SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 5-A BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : Edison Digs Early Hole, Falls to Torrance

Edison High School Coach Paul Harrell knew his team was facing a good-hitting team in the first round of the 5-A baseball playoffs. But he never figured to be down by seven runs after the first inning Friday.

Torrance, which came in with a .333 team batting average, sent 12 men to the plate in the first and went on to a 10-7 victory over Edison at Torrance Park.

“I knew there would be a lot of scoring going on,” Harrell said. “But you can’t spot a team like Torrance seven runs. It’s awfully tough to come back.”

Edison’s Donnie Smith (5-2) hit the first batter he faced, then walked the next three. Then Torrance’s Kendall brothers--sons of former big league catcher Fred Kendall--jumped on reliever Phil Jensen.

Sophomore catcher Jason Kendall greeted Jensen with a two-run single and an error on the play allowed a third run to score. Then older brother Mike lifted a towering home run to left to give Torrance a 6-0 lead with no outs. The final run in the inning was unearned.

Edison (18-8) cut the deficit to 7-4 with five singles off senior right-hander Mike Kendall (9-3) in the second and third. But Torrance scored three more runs in the fourth, highlighted by Ruben Montoya’s third hit of the game, a two-run single.

The Chargers scored three times in the seventh on run-scoring hits by Bryan Higgins, Steve Thobe and Rocky Balch.

Balch’s two-out double off the left-field wall put Edison runners on second and third.

Antone Williamson Torrance’s regular third baseman, came in to pitch and struck out Josh Gingrich on four pitches--the last one a fastball on the outside corner for called strike three--to end the game and record his second save.

Torrance (19-8), tri-champion of the Bay League, will play Westlake (26-1), the No. 2 team in the nation in USA Today’s Top 25, in the second round Tuesday.

In other 5-A games:

Katella 7, Royal 2--Traveling two hours from Anaheim to Simi Valley didn’t disturb the Knights.

Katella’s Dennis Briggs led off the game with a home run, knocking a three-and-one pitch over the 390-foot mark in center field for his second homer of the season.

“We enjoy going on the road because we have the chance to take advantage of the smaller fields,” Katella Coach Tim McMenamin said. “We play in a park with a 415-foot center field.”

Outfielder Eric Boyd also enjoyed the Highlander park, smacking a two-run home run over the right-field fence in the fourth, scoring Briggs, who was three for four. Boyd’s homer, his second, gave Katella a 5-0 lead.

Danny Allen (8-3) pitched five innings, allowing six hits and four walks with three strikeouts. Chris Drummond, who is 7-1 with six saves, allowed one hit over the final two innings.

Mater Dei 5, Fontana 2--Doug DeJardin had two hits and scored twice, Lionel Hastings had two hits, scored twice and had one RBI and Cale Carter had two hits and three RBIs to lead host Mater Dei. Carter’s two-out single in the first inning gave Mater Dei (19-8) a 2-0 lead. Sean Sutton (7-4) pitched a seven-hitter, struck out seven and walked one for Mater Dei.

Esperanza 6, Beverly Hills 4--Rich Hills and Jason Hodges each had two hits and two RBIs to lead Esperanza (20-6). Shade Summers (8-0) pitched 3 1/3 relief innings for the victory and Dan Redington got fifth save in pitching the last 1 2/3 innings.

Marina 4, Hacienda Heights Wilson 2--Marina scored three runs in the third inning on Mark Newfield’s RBI single and Nick Valencia’s two-run single to win at Wilson (23-5). David Schultz had a RBI single in the first inning and scored in the third for Marina (13-12-2).