Torrance Overcomes Its Errors, and South, 5-3

The Torrance High baseball team overthrew some balls and underran some flies, but in the end it outplayed visiting South Torrance, 5-3, in a Pioneer League game Wednesday afternoon.

The victory increased the first-place Tartars’ record to 8-1 in league play and 15-4 overall. South (4-3, 10-8) dropped to third place behind West Torrance, but, as Torrance Coach Jeff Phillips said: “This is just the beginning of three very big weeks of baseball.”

If South beats Torrance on Friday in a 3 p.m. game at South and wins its remaining four league games, it would only be one game behind Torrance. Then, two weeks from now, the Spartans could hope for Torrance to lose its season-ending two-game series with West. Torrance has no league games next week.

On Wednesday, Torrance junior catcher Jason Kendall drove in three runs and extended his hitting streak to 25 games, dating back to last year. Kendall now has 40 RBIs, one short of the school record set last year by senior left fielder Eric Gonzalez.

Kendall gave Torrance a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a a bases-loaded single, and he pushed across another run when he walked with the bases loaded in the third.

The Tartars committed six errors, but the goofs led to only one unearned run, thanks to timely defense and some clutch pitching by Kris Radcliffe, who finished with an eight-hitter, his fifth complete game.

“We’ve played well defensively all year, but today was just one of those days,” Phillips said. “We made some mistakes, but when it came down to it we made the plays and beat a very good baseball team.”

South put runners on base in six of the seven innings, but stranded 10 and hit into two double plays.

“We had our chances but we couldn’t cash them in,” said Spartan Coach Bob Grant. “But you have to give Radcliffe credit. He wasn’t at his best, and he beat us.”

The tying run came to the plate for South in the sixth and seventh innings, but Radcliffe (7-1, 6-0 in league play) got out of both jams. In the seventh, Torrance second baseman Pete Despain went far to his right to stop a sharp grounder hit by South’s Keith Schaefer and start a double play.

Torrance senior Antone Williamson, who entered the game hitting .537, went two for four with one RBI and two runs scored.