Villafana Limits Poly to 1 Hit but Errors Hand Sylmar 3-0 Loss

One swing cost Sylmar High’s Jose Villafana a no-hitter Thursday but three errors by his teammates cost him a game as Poly turned the miscues into a 3-0 victory in an East Valley League game at Poly.

Villafana (1-1) was perfect through 3 1/3 innings before Robert Aros singled up the middle. Aros, who has hit safely in six consecutive games, was forced out at second on Marlon McKinney’s ground ball, but McKinney stole second two pitches later and scored when Sylmar third baseman Robert Garcia threw wide to first in an attempt to get Juan Chiavaria.

There must have been something special about the way Chiavaria hit those high choppers, because shortstop Juan Flores had trouble fielding his ground ball again in the sixth inning, committing an error that led to two more runs for Poly (6-1, 3-0 in league play).

With two out and pinch-runner Sef Carlin at third, Villafana intentionally walked McKinney, who stole second two pitches later. Chiavaria then hit a chopper toward Flores, whose throw bounced once in the grass and then off the chest of first baseman James Encinas. Both runners scored easily to give Poly a 3-0 lead.

“Teams that don’t take advantage of mistakes like that don’t win ballgames,” Poly Coach Jerry Cord said.

Villafana, a junior who throws side-arm, made just 62 pitches in six innings, including 25 in the first three.

“They say Poly is the No. 1 contender (in league), but I just pitched my game,” said Villafana, who struck out five batters and has yet to allow an earned run in 13 innings. “We have to work more on our defense, but we’ll get ‘em next time.”

Sylmar Coach Gary Donatella was extremely pleased with the pitcher’s performance.

“I was really interested to see how Villafana would do facing Poly as a junior,” Donatella said. “And he did a great job, he outpitched their pitcher.”

Poly right-hander Raul Torres (1-0) scattered three hits in his first start of the season. Torres’ shutout was nearly lost in the seventh when Dereck Ornelas blasted a fly ball deep to left field. A strong, whipping wind seemed to suspend Ornelas’ fly ball, giving Aros time to jump back into the fence for the catch.

Sylmar (3-3, 2-1) had an opportunity to score in the first, but an outstanding Poly defense nullified what should have been a run-scoring single. Ornelas reached first on a fielder’s choice and advanced to third on two passed balls. Designated-hitter Rene Navarro then lined a 3-2 pitch into right field, but right-fielder Jesus Perez fielded the ball on a hop and threw a perfect strike to first baseman Francisco Flores to get Navarro and end the inning.