HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : At Bat, on Mound, Howards Lead Grant Past Monroe

Jose Velasquez and Justin Howard each had two hits to lead Grant High to a 6-3 victory over Monroe in a Valley Pac-8 Conference baseball game Thursday at Grant.

Rusty Howard, the winning pitcher, homered to lead off Grant’s four-run third. Later in the inning, Grant (7-4, 5-1 in league play) executed a first-and-third double steal, with Peter Chong scoring on the play.

Noel Toledo came within a single of hitting for the cycle for Monroe (6-3-1, 4-2). Toledo drove in all three of Monroe’s runs.

Howard (2-0) and Justin Salazar combined on a six-sitter. Senior right-hander Adrian Lovrich (2-2) took the loss for Monroe.

In other baseball games:

Moorpark 8, St. Bonaventure 1--Jake Flesher and Jason Adamson paced a 13-hit attack as the visiting Musketeers’ improved to 9-0, 4-0 in Tri-Valley League play.

Flesher was four for four, including two doubles, and Adamson was two for four and drove in three runs. Senior right-hander Ken Ditto struck out five, walked none and yielded four hits in six innings to improve to 4-0.

Poly 8, Van Nuys 4--Poly parlayed three errors into four runs in the top of the seventh to snap a 4-4 tie in a Valley Pac-8 game at Van Nuys.

Francisco Flores’ two-run single with two out fueled the rally for Poly (7-4, 4-2). Benjamin Villa had three hits and Patrick Alvarado added two for Van Nuys (4-6, 1-5).

Sylmar 5, Birmingham 3--Mike Gabbert had two hits and Jimmy Lemos scattered three runs on five hits as Sylmar (8-5, 6-0) won a Valley Pac-8 game at Birmingham.

Lester Echeverria had two hits for Birmingham (2-7, 2-4).

North Hollywood 4, Canoga Park 3--Sergio Molina and Oscar Gonzalez each had two hits for host North Hollywood (2-8, 1-5) in the Valley Pac-8 game.

Nathan Wrought scored in the bottom of the sixth to break a 3-3 tie. Wrought singled with two outs, stole second, and scored on an infield error.

Eddie Gonzalez (1-1) scattered eight hits, walked none and did not allow an earned run for Noth Hollywood.

Verdugo Hills 2, Hollywood 0--Steve Hernandez needed only 72 pitches to log a two-hitter in a Northern Conference game at Hollywood.

Hernandez (2-1) yielded only a single in the second inning and another in the seventh. Hernandez did not walk a batter and struck out five.

Ron Battaglia had a run-scoring single in the first inning and Pat Eubanks hit a solo home run in the fifth for Verdugo Hills (5-4, 4-2.

SOFTBALL

El Camino Real 7, Cleveland 0--Jennifer Gould pitched a no-hitter as host El Camino Real won a Northwest Valley Conference game. El Camino Real had just two hits but benefited from five Cleveland errors.

Simi Valley 4, Agoura 0--Michele Castonguay struck out two and walked three in pitching a three-hitter in the Marmonte League game at Agoura.

Yody Roache’s two-run single in the fourth snapped a scoreless tie. Dayna Skinner hit two doubles and Kris Lufkin was four for four for Simi Valley (12-1, 7-0).

Newbury Park 3, Camarillo 1--Bree Gallimore’s two-run double in the fifth proved decisive in the Marmonte League game at Camarillo. Alison Reynolds had two hits and scored twice to lead Newbury Park (5-5, 3-2).

Shannon Swales (2-1) allowed six hits, struck out one and walked one for Newbury Park.

Laura Richardson, last year’s Southern Section 5-A Division player of the year, allowed five hits and struck out nine in taking the loss.

Canyon 6, Palmdale 1--Crystl Bustos hit two home runs for visiting Canyon (9-3, 2-0) in a Golden League game. Marianne Winchester (7-2) had six strikeouts in six innings to earn the win and increase her scoreless-innings streak to 27.

Moorpark 2, La Reina 1--Karen Richter hit a two-run home run and Cara Shea pitched a three-hitter for host Moorpark (10-0-1, 2-0) in a Tri-Valley League game.

Valerie Serpico hit a solo home run for La Reina (7-4, 2-1). Michelle St. Pierre struck out 11 and allowed only two hits for La Reina.

Burroughs 6, Schurr 3--Jamie Vahoviak pitched four hitless innings in relief as Burroughs (5-7, 2-0) rallied to win a Foothill League game.

Nikki Mayfield doubled to score Erin Johnson and give Burroughs a 4-3 lead in the third inning. Johnson’s two-run double in the fourth drove in Kristina Bullock and Vahoviak.

Harvard-Westlake 15, Immaculate Heart 5--Host Westlake (5-4, 1-2) benefited from five errors and 12 walks to win a San Fernando League game. Cari Schwartz hit a double for Westlake.

Thousand Oaks 6, Royal 0--Carrie Russell (7-4) allowed three hits--two of the infield variety--to lead Thousand Oaks (7-4, 5-1) to a Marmonte League win at home.

L.A. Baptist 21, Marshall Fundamental 0--Stephanie Majors struck out six for visiting L. A. Baptist in an Alpha League game called after five innings.

Sylmar 10, Poly 1--Krystina Moore, making her first start since she was injured in an auto accident three weeks ago, took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in a Valley Pac-8 game.

Moore (2-2) struck out eight and walked one. Regina Hernandez has four hits for Sylmar (9-3, 4-0).

Reseda 4, Kennedy 3--Michelle Brewer scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh to lead Reseda in a Northwest Valley Conference game at home.

Brewer (two hits) led off the inning with a single, then stole second. She scored from there on a bunt by Mabel Arias.

Chatsworth 14, San Fernando 5--Rachel Pannicia hit two home runs and drove in five runs for host Chatsworth in the Northwest Valley game. Mitza Simpson, Amy Shapiro and Cindy Takamoto each added two hits for Chatsworth (7-1, 3-1).

Taft 3, Granada Hills 0--Taft scored three runs in the second inning to hand visiting Granada Hills its first loss in Northwest Valley play.

Canoga Park 19, Grant 3--Amy Conaway had a pair of doubles to pace host Canoga Park’s 12-hit attack in a Valley Pac-8 game. Conaway was two for three with three RBIs.

St. Bonaventure 9, Oak Park 0--Carrie Hawkins had three hits for St. Bonaventure (4-7, 1-2) in a Tri-Valley League game.

BOYS’ TRACK

Westlake 77, Notre Dame 54--Erik Holcomb and Scott Scheirmann each won two events for visiting Westlake in a nonleague meet.

Holcomb won the 100 in 10.8 seconds, the 200 in 22.4, and ran the anchor leg on the victorious 400-meter relay team, which timed 44.5.

Scheirmann won the 800 in 1:59.4 and the 3,200 in 10:17.8.

Maranatha 88, L.A. Baptist 33--Jim Romero cleared a school record of 6-feet-5 inches in the high jump for host L. A. Baptist in the Alpha League meet. Romero set the previous mark of 6-4 last year.

GIRLS’ TRACK

Westlake 92, Notre Dame 26--Westlake’s Crystal Brownlee, the runner-up in the shotput in last year’s state meet, won her specialty with a put of 44-8 1/2 in a nonleague meet at Notre Dame.