SOUTHERN SECTION 4-A BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : Wood Recovers to Lead Canyon to Victory, 5-2

Canyon pitcher Matt Wood’s shaky start wreaked havoc on his teammates in their Southern Section 4-A semifinal playoff game Tuesday against Paramount at Villa Park High School.

Wood, a senior right-hander, walked the first two batters and gave up an infield single. But he quickly regained control, leading Canyon to a 5-2 victory.

Wood (8-4) allowed a sacrifice fly, then got a groundout and a strikeout to escape the first inning.

He gave up another run in the second, but was in command from there.

Wood gave up two hits over the final five innings and retired the last nine batters in order.

“He was hyperventilating the bullpen,” said John Leavitt, Canyon pitching coach. “But we knew he would settle down.”

Wood finished with a four-hitter, striking out seven and walking four. Only one walk came after the second inning.

“I just told myself that this was another ballgame,” Wood said. “But I was nervous. I was like that all day.”

Canyon (19-9-1) plays Capistrano Valley (20-10-1) in the title game Saturday at Anaheim Stadium.

Paramount’s Steve Lopez (8-4) pitched a two-hitter, but was hurt by his teammates’ five errors. All five of Canyon’s runs were unearned.

Paramount (18-7-1) made three errors as Canyon scored three runs in the third to take a 4-2 lead.

Rory O’Leary and Jeff Brunswig walked with one out. O’Leary took third on a fly out to center by Greg Tippin.

Brunswig started toward second as Paramount catcher Antonio Lara’s throw was wild, allowing O’Leary to score.

John Schumacher hit a deep fly to left that should have ended the inning, but Paramount’s Tony Vasquez dropped it for a two-base error. Wood then helped himself with an RBI single to give Canyon a 4-2 lead.

Canyon scored again in the fifth when Tippin got a two-out walk. Schumacher then hit a fly ball to right that Jesus Velasquez dropped, allowing Tippin to score.