El Segundo Blanks St. Anthony on Croxall’s 1-Hitter

El Segundo pitcher Rob Croxall missed a no-hitter Wednesday night, but his 3-0 shutout of St. Anthony helped erase the memory of the Eagles’ only Camino Real League loss this season--a 4-3 setback at St. Anthony on April 5.

The only hit Croxall gave up was a single by St. Anthony shortstop Ricky Sanchez to open the seventh inning.

“I was just trying not to think about the no-hitter, and just keep throwing the same pitches I had been throwing,” Croxall said.

Croxall hasn’t allowed a run in 30 consecutive innings. The last time he was scored on was in the first inning of El Segundo’s loss to St. Anthony a month ago.

Wednesday night, the stocky right-hander struck out eight, didn’t walk a batter, and improved his record to 9-1. He also dropped his earned-run average to 0.71--the best in the South Bay.

For four innings, Croxall was locked in a pitching duel with St. Anthony left-hander Eric Mooney, who beat El Segundo in the teams’ first matchup.

Mooney (6-5), who also struck out eight, allowed only one hit--a double off the top of the wall in center by shortstop Mark Lewis--before things fell apart on him in the fourth.

With two out in the inning, Garret Quaintance (who reached first on Fernando Chavez’ error) and Jeff Poor (who grounded into a force play) pulled a double steal of second and third, forcing Mooney to intentionally walk Ken Talanoa to load the bases.

St Bernard 17, Serra 3--The Vikings stole 21 bases to set school records for most steals in a game and a season in a Camino Real League game at St. Bernard.

Sean Dunbar stole six bases and John Coleman had five for St. Bernard, which has 136 steals for the season. The South Bay record is 148, set last season by North Torrance.