HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Poly Clinches Share of Title Behind Arm, Bat of Diaz

Ernie Diaz had two hits, drove in two runs and combined with Ricardo Trujillo on a four-hitter Thursday as Poly High rolled to a 10-1 victory over host North Hollywood and clinched a tie for the East Valley League baseball title.

Poly (17-4, 14-2 in league play) is one game ahead of Grant (15-6, 13-3) with one game left. The teams will meet Tuesday at Poly. Francisco Flores and Ernie Bueno each had two hits for Poly.

In other baseball games:

L.A. Lutheran 18, Viewpoint Christian 0--L.A. Lutheran’s Kevin Brown had seven stolen bases to establish s Southern Section season record in a Heritage League game. Brown has 70 steals, six more than Mike Rust of Western Christian in 1985.

Grant 6, Sylmar 1--Albert Vazquez hit a solo home run in the third and added a two-run single in the sixth to lift Grant (15-6, 13-3) to an East Valley League win.

Ryan Messervier and Rusty Howard combined on a one-hitter for the Lancers, allowing only a single by Oscar Mendoza.

Monroe 8, Canoga Park 1--Sophomore Joel Zamudio (2-0) threw a two-hitter and struck out 12 in his first start to lead host Monroe (16-3-1, 14-2), which erupted for seven runs in the sixth inning of a Mid-Valley League game.

John Shellabarger’s two-run triple highlighted Monroe’s sixth, and Noel Toledo was two for three.

Birmingham 12, Van Nuys 5--Irvin Castaneda was three for three with three runs and an RBI to lead the visiting Braves (11-16, 5-11) to a Mid-Valley League win. Jaime Chacon had three hits and two RBIs for Van Nuys (11-9, 8-8).

L.A. Baptist 14, Marshall 2--Junior Steve Klein allowed four hits over six innings and struck out eight in his second start as L.A. Baptist (11-10, 4-5) won an Alpha League game at home. Klein also had two doubles, two RBIs and two runs.

SOFTBALL

Cleveland 4, Birmingham 1--Liz Lopez was two for four with a double for visiting Cleveland (9-6) in the first round of the City Section 4-A Division playoffs.

In other first-round City playoff games:

Taft 4, Narbonne 1--Marcella Hairapetian hit a three-run home run to lead host Taft (15-3) in a 4-A game.

San Fernando 6, Canoga Park 3--Anna Calzada tossed a one-hitter, drove in three runs and scored another to lead the visiting Tigers in a 4-A game. Lisa Servera had five stolen bases for San Fernando.

Monroe 8, Wilson 0--Danielle Phaneus had three hits and Stephanie Szabo had two for host Monroe (10-5) in a 3-A game.

Melissa Ennis (6-2) allowed three hits, struck out 10 and walked one.

In Southern Section softball games:

Glendale 1, Hoover 0 (eight innings)--Jenny Dalton scored from third on wild pitch by Nancy Evans with one out in the eighth to lift Glendale (15-6, 7-3) to a Pacific League win and a playoff berth.

Evans struck out 13 and allowed only an infield single by Cindy Bennett. Glendale’s Darlene Anderson struck out 13 and held Hoover (21-3, 9-1) to two hits.

Crescenta Valley 2, Arcadia 0--Kim Welch’s two-out single in the sixth scored Jennifer Ferreira and Amy Colburn as the Falcons (18-4, 7-3) clinched a playoff berth in a Pacific League game.

Ferreira, who was two for three, singled and was sacrificed to second by Stacy Atwood. After an intentional walk to Colburn and a double steal, Welch came through. Atwood (17-4) hurled a three-hitter with no walks.

La Reina 10, Oak Park 0--Michelle St. Pierre tossed her fifth one-hitter to lead La Reina (14-4, 9-1) to a share of the Tri-Valley League title with Moorpark.

Shane Anderson was two for four with two RBIs for La Reina.

Moorpark 20, Bishop Diego 10--Colleen Tucker and Sher Tinnerillo each homered in an 11-run first inning for host Moorpark (20-4, 9-1) in a Tri-Valley League game.

Hart 7, Burbank 0--Jamie Dean was three for four with two RBIs and a run to help host Hart (18-7, 10-0) to a Foothill League win. Lauren Fenstemaker and Alyson Solomon combined on a six-hitter for Hart.

L.A. Lutheran 25, Viewpoint 1--Donna Olson tossed a one-hitter and was four for four with a two-run homer and seven RBIs to lead visiting L. A. Lutheran (17-1, 12-0) in a Heritage League game.

L.A. Baptist 9, Village Christian 4--Wende Buxkemper hit a two-run homer in the fourth to give the host Knights (9-5, 7-3) the lead for good in an Alpha League game.