Cypress’ Legendre Keeps L.A. Harbor Off-Balance

Cypress College right-hander Robert Legendre is only a freshman, but Friday he pitched like an old pro against defending State champion Los Angeles Harbor.

Legendre, a 6-footer from Western High School, led the Chargers to an 8-3 victory over top-seeded Harbor in the first game of the Southern California regionals at Harbor College.

“He was a little tired at the end, but he wanted to finish the game,” Cypress Coach Scott Pickler said. “He really kept that team off-balance and he got himself out of trouble a couple of times.”

Legendre (7-4) struck out seven and gave up five hits and three runs in a complete-game performance. He used breaking balls and fastballs to disrupt the Seahawks’ rhythm. Harbor’s top two hitters--second baseman Ricardo Gutierrez (.404) and left fielder Ernie Jaramillo (.348)--went hitless. Gutierrez went 0 for 5 and Jaramillo struck out three of four times at bat.

“That guy can do it to you,” Harbor Coach Tony Bloomfield said. “He’s a great pitcher. He really threw us off. There wasn’t much we could do against him.”

The eighth-seeded Chargers improved to 29-14, and Harbor, the Southern California Athletic Conference champion, fell to 32-8. Left-hander German Casillas (2-1) took the loss for the Seahawks. He gave up four hits and four runs before leaving in the sixth inning.

Casillas got into a second-inning jam that led to Cypress’ first run. He walked three consecutive batters with one out, allowing Eric Nygard to score from third on Jason Bates’ sacrifice fly to center. Bates went three for five, including a home run.

Nygard, the designated hitter, ripped a home run to left in the fourth to give the Chargers a 2-0 lead. Harbor didn’t get a hit until the fourth inning, when catcher Robert Lewis smacked a run batted in single to short center.

Thomas Puppe’s RBI triple and Kevin Cook’s RBI single gave Cypress a 4-1 lead in the sixth. Sean Drinkwater hit a two-run homer off Harbor reliever Scott Taylor in the seventh and Bates did the same in the eighth for an 8-1 edge.

Harbor had two home runs in the last two innings. Third baseman Rene Lopez hit one in the eighth and designated hitter Chuck Dominguez got one in the ninth, but it was too late for the Seahawks, who will play Citrus in today’s consolation game at 10 a.m. at El Camino College.

“Things really went well for us,” Pickler said. “Besides good pitching, we were swinging the bat pretty good. I can’t complain.”

Pickler said Roger Weems will start against Los Angeles Pierce in today’s 11 a.m. game at Harbor. The right-handed sophomore has a 6-2 record.