South Torrance Defeats West Torrance Behind Cho : High schools: Senior left-hander pitches four-hitter as Spartans maintain grip on first place in Pioneer League.

South Torrance High’s Raymond Cho pitched a four-hitter Wednesday to lead the Spartans to a 6-2 Pioneer League baseball victory over visiting West Torrance.

South (6-6 overall, 4-1 in league play) won its first game against West after two losses to the Warriors (8-5, 3-2)--one in league play and one in the Palos Verdes-Redondo Tournament on Saturday. The Spartans remained in first place in the Pioneer standings, while West fell a game behind.

South will visit West on Friday in a 3 p.m. league game.

On Wednesday, South jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first inning without getting a hit. With two outs, West ace pitcher Brian Fitzgerald suffered control problems, hitting catcher Greg Paluszek with a pitch before walking the next four batters.

A wild pitch allowed Paluszek to score. Fitzgerald walked in another run, which turned out to be the only earned run South would score.

The serious damage came when Jeff Miller’s bases-loaded fly ball was dropped by West left fielder Ryan Berry, allowing all three baserunners to score.

“They had some control problems and we took advantage of it,” South Coach Bob Grant said. “West is a good team and we had to be ready to play, especially when first place is on the line.”

South added a run on Jason Bobb’s RBI single in the third inning to make the score 6-2.

The rest was left up to Cho, who won his second complete game and improved his record to 3-0. West was able to get only four hits off the senior left-hander and only one after the third inning.

“I like to keep pitching when I get a rhythm going,” Cho said.

“Raymond’s been an outstanding pitcher for us,” Grant said. “He’ll battle you all the way and keep fighting. If I could pitch him on Friday I would.”

West has lost two consecutive league games, with Fitzgerald (4-2) the losing pitcher each time.

“We didn’t pitch, we didn’t hit, we didn’t field,” West Coach Harry Jenkins said. “That’ll get you in trouble.”