West Covina Comes Out Swinging in 5-A Division Baseball Playoffs

During the regular season, West Covina High School was not regarded as the Sierra League’s top baseball team because that title belonged to Hacienda Heights Wilson.

In the final Southern Section sportswriters’ poll, Wilson (23-4) was ranked third in the 5-A Division, while West Covina’s 17-6 record was only good enough for honorable mention.

In the playoffs, however, West Covina has emerged as one of the division’s powerhouses in advancing into today’s semifinal round. Gone are three of the top four seeds--Wilson, Long Beach Millikan and Culver City.

In the quarterfinals Friday, West Covina defeated Thousand Oaks, 17-10, to earn the right to meet Diamond Bar, which defeated Anaheim Katella, 7-2.

In the other 5-A Division semifinal, top-rated Westlake, which defeated La Puente Bishop Amat, 5-2, will meet Marina, which defeated Santa Ana Mater Dei, 4-0.

West Covina hit four home runs against Thousand Oaks, with Mike Pineiro, a senior third baseman, hitting two--including a grand slam. On the season, West Covina (20-6) has hit 48 homers, three shy of the Southern Section record shared by Glendora (1985) and Playa del Rey St. Bernard (1988).

Charles Poe leads the Bulldogs with 13 home runs, 41 runs batted in and a .521 batting average.

West Covina, which averages 10.8 runs a game, scored 17 runs on 17 hits against Thousand Oaks. Seven players had at least two hits, with Pineiro driving in seven runs.

For Thousand Oaks, the loss ended a fairy-tale season in which the Lancers upset Culver City in the the first round and beat Rolling Hills in the second round by scoring nine runs in the seventh inning and two more in the eighth.

In the 4-A Division semifinals, Upland will meet San Luis Obispo and Fullerton Troy will play West Covina South Hills.

In the 3-A Division, Orange will meet Whittier La Serna and Hesperia will take on Tustin.

In the 2-A Division, Yucaipa will meet San Marino and El Segundo will play Long Beach St. Anthony.

In the 1-A Division, Van Nuys Montclair Prep will play Lancaster Paraclete and Fillmore will take on Sun Valley Village Christian.

In the Small Schools Division, Rosamond will play Norwalk Leffingwell Christian and Pasadena Poly will meet Boron.

A San Fernando Valley baseball team will win the City 4-A Division title for the 18th consecutive year Wednesday when El Camino Real meets Chatsworth at Dodger Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

El Camino Real advanced to the final by defeating San Fernando, 3-1; Chatsworth defeated Woodland Hills Taft, 6-1.

Last year, Granada Hills Kennedy defeated Palisades, 4-3, for the title.

In the 3-A Division championship game Wednesday at 4 p.m., heavy hitting Washington, which defeated Hamilton, 20-13, will meet Fairfax, which beat South Gate, 4-2.

In the Southern Section 4-A Division volleyball final, Mira Costa, the top-ranked team in the nation, completed a 22-0 season with a three-game sweep of Huntington Beach Edison Saturday night.

Arcadia swept Brentwood in three games to win the 3-A title.

The boys’ 400 meters is expected to be a banner event in the State track and field meet at Cerritos College Friday and Saturday.

Two of the favorites, Gerald McCladdie of Compton Centennial and Lamont Warren of Dorsey, posted impressive victories last week with sub-48-second times.

McCladdie, a junior, won the Southern Section Masters’ meet 400 meters in 47.69 seconds, defeating Mike Sulcer of Pasadena Muir, who clocked 48.21.

McCladdie, who began running track two years ago after moving from Georgia, is the latest in a line of great quarter-milers at Centennial.

Previous one-lap State meet winners for the Apaches were Edesel Garrison in 1968 and Mike Turner in 1980.

“It seems like we have a great one every 10 years,” Centennial Coach Charles Leathers said. “(McCladdie) is unique in how he attacks every workout. He is like all great quarter-milers who know how to push through the wall.”

McCladdie says that he is not a sprinter despite his great acceleration in the last 100 meters.

“I try not to waste any energy when I run,” said McCladdie, whose first springtime love was baseball. “I do not worry about my times. I just try to stay in touch with the other runners until the last 100 because that is what counts.”

In 1980, Centennial had the top collection of 400-meter runners in Southern California, winning the State mile relay with a then-national best of 3:10.37.

This year, Centennial, running with two sophomores and two juniors, finished second to Pasadena Muir in the Masters’ 1,600-meter relay.

“Maybe, this is our turn again,” Leathers said. “We have a strong core of young runners with McCladdie being our main guy.”

Whereas McCladdie ran away from his competition to qualify for the State meet, Warren had to catch the leaders down the stretch to win the City title last Thursday.

Warren, second-seeded behind John Floyd of Locke, had to rally to pass Ruben Benitez of Woodland Hills Taft to win in 47.72.

“I wanted Floyd bad because he beat me in the semifinals,” Warren said. “But, I did not see (Benitez) until the final straight.”

Warren, also a junior, anchored the Dons to victory in the 1,600-meter relay with a 47.0 leg.

“I feel pretty confident about my chances in the state meet,” Warren said. “I’ve been looking forward to running against McCladdie all year.”

For the second consecutive year, Rosetta Hunter of Locke was not tested in winning the girls’ City 1,600 and 3,200 meters.

Last year, Hunter did not place in the State meet after dominating city competition, but she says it will be different this time.

“I practice by myself and I usually run against the clock in meets,” said Hunter, who will only run the 1,600 in the State meet. “I gained a lot of experience from last year’s State meet and I think that I am ready this time.”

Hunter won the 1,600 in 5:00.28 and 3,200 meters in 11:26.37.