Mira Costa Is No Match for Redondo

Redondo High baseball Coach Tim Ammentorp knows he is going to have plenty of days such as Thursday, but he won’t mind if they all have the same outcome.

Redondo’s strength is pitching (1.61 earned-run average) and defense. But with the team’s .249 batting average, Ammentorp never knows if the Sea Hawks will swing the bats well enough to win.

Ammentorp was smiling Thursday after Redondo mustered enough offense for a 3-1 Ocean League victory over Mira Costa and one of the South Bay’s top pitchers, right-hander Jason Garner.

“Our pitchers have to pitch, and we have to play defense behind them,” Ammentorp said. “We knew coming in we were facing a great pitcher, but we were able to put some pressure on him.”

Garner struck out the first two Redondo batters he faced, but Redondo pitcher Frank Bignami followed with a single. Bignami scored when Bryan Hammons lofted a wind-blown drive over left fielder Chris Hughes for a double.

Redondo (7-3 overall, 2-0 in league play) added two more runs in the fourth when Bignami and Hammons singled, then scored on Akash Sehgal’s ground out and Jeremy Veasey’s bad-hop single.

Garner wasn’t rattled. He struck out 10, allowed only six hits and didn’t walk a batter.

But Bignami (3-1), who visited a doctor on Tuesday because of a viral infection, matched Garner inning for inning. After the fifth, Bignami had a two-hit shutout and had struck out seven.

Mira Costa (4-5, 1-2) broke up Bignami’s shutout in the sixth when shortstop Scott Combs drew a one-out walk. He scored when Garner hit a Bignami fastball for a ground-rule double.

Right-hander Ted Silva pitched a scoreless seventh for his first save, getting Hughes to chase a curveball for the final out with two runners on base.

“Frank was in control for most of the game,” Ammentorp said. “He didn’t want to come out of the game, and that’s what you like to see in a pitcher.”

Redondo’s defense--led by shortstop Dan Sanchez--made Bignami’s job a little easier.

On Tuesday, the Sea Hawks play league favorite Rolling Hills, which is led by pitcher Kirt Kishita. On Wednesday they travel to offensive-minded Palos Verdes.