Westlake Opens Season With Smart 6-0 Win

Strong pitching and timely hitting became a habit at Westlake High last season, and eventually led to a No. 1 national ranking by USA Today and a trip to the Southern Section Division 5-A semifinals.

If the Warriors’ season-opening performance Monday is indicative of what is to come this season, it could be more of the same.

James Clark and Don Snyder combined on a three-hit shutout and Westlake needed only eight hits to hand Cerritos a 6-0 loss in the first round of the El Segundo tournament. Westlake, which won the tournament last year and is ranked fourth in the Division 5-A preseason poll, used six Cerritos errors to score three unearned runs.

The victory was the 40th in 53 games for third-year Coach Rich Herrera, who became the school’s all-time victory leader. Herrera passed Dennis Judd.

Clark, a senior left-hander who was 7-1 with a 1.31 earned-run average and was an All-Ventura County selection last season, struck out five, walked one, and allowed three hits through five innings. Snyder, a junior right-hander, contributed two innings of hitless relief and struck out two.

Rob Neal was three for four with two runs, two runs batted in and two stolen bases. Todd Preston was two for three with an RBI and stolen base.

In other baseball games:

Simi Valley 10, Long Beach Wilson 6--Third baseman Tyler Nelson homered, had three hits, drove in three runs and scored three times in a first-round game of the El Segundo tournament at Simi Valley.

Brian Vasey was three for four with a pair of doubles and teammate James Manzi slugged a two-run homer for Simi Valley (1-0), which will play at Westlake in the second round Wednesday.

Crespi 4, L.A. Banning 3--Jeff Suppan and Ryan Staley combined to allow only four hits and Crespi (1-0) scored the go-ahead run on a failed double-play attempt with one out in the sixth inning of an El Segundo tournament game at Banning (2-1).

Joe Ruggiero had two hits and Suppan, a sophomore right-hander, struck out nine in six innings.

Burroughs 9, Artesia 6--Senior right-hander Mike Rossiter (1-0) allowed no hits, two walks and struck out nine in his four innings of work in a first-round game of the El Segundo tournament.

Mike Medina had two hits; Burroughs teammates Bob Sherwood and Mike Campbell each had two RBIs.

Poly 10, San Fernando 3--The Parrots battered three San Fernando pitchers for nine hits in a fourth-round San Fernando tournament game at Poly that was called after five innings because of rain.

Marlon McKinney’s run-scoring double keyed a three-run outburst in the first for Poly (3-1). McKinney added another run-scoring double in the second as Poly again scored three times.

Raul Torres was two for three with two RBIs for Poly. San Fernando is 2-2.

Granada Hills 15, Grant 2--Scott Berger was three for four with two doubles and three RBIs for visiting Granada Hills (2-2) in a San Fernando tournament game.

Greg Van De Car (1-0), Chris Markey, and Bryan Martin combined to allow Grant (1-3) just five hits.

Kennedy 6, Franklin 5--Staked to a 6-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh, Kennedy starter Mike McMullen needed relief help from Cody Beaumaster in a San Fernando tournament game at Franklin.

McMullen (1-1) walked four batters in the inning, and, with one out, two runs in and the bases loaded, Beaumaster relieved. After yielding a two-run single to bring Franklin within 6-5, Beaumaster retired the side on a strikeout and a ground ball.

Bill Ramirez, Jeff Tagliaferri and Rick Nadeau each had two hits for Kennedy (2-2).

Lakewood 6, Newbury Park 4--Jason Cash had two hits for Newbury Park in an opening-round loss in the Loara tournament at Lakewood.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

The Master’s College 7, Cal Lutheran 6--Master’s catcher Dan O’Sullivan slammed a two-run home run to highlight a four-run sixth in an NAIA District 3 game at Cal Lutheran that was called after eight innings because of rain.

Mike Smith (1-3) threw a six-hitter to earn the victory for Master’s (7-6, 3-3). Mike Rooney (2-2) took the loss for Cal Lutheran (7-4, 1-1).

SOFTBALL

Sylmar 23, Verdugo Hills 0--Junior right-hander Krystina Moore tossed a no-hitter in a nonleague opener at Verdugo Hills.

Moore struck out 14 and walked three. Teammates Sonia Garcia, Regina Hernandez and Jamie Vo had two hits.

Alemany 3, Saugus 0--Krista Gomez’s two-run homer in the second was all Alemany right-hander Stacey Hart needed in a nonleague opener at home.

Crescenta Valley 15, Flintridge Prep 0--Becki Mixon had three hits and pitched a one-hitter for host Crescenta Valley (1-0) in a nonleague game that was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

Mixon, a junior right-hander, struck out nine, did not walk a batter, and faced the minimum of 15 batters.

GOLF

Hart 413, Westlake 413--Senior Jerry Chang fired a one-over 73 at Valencia Country Club in a tie between two of the best teams in the area.

Chang shot rounds of 36 and 37 over the 73.9-rated course. Senior Mike Miller shot 77 and junior Jason Gore had an 80 to lead Hart in the nonconference match.