HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Victory Gives Notre Dame Playoff Berth

Chris Garza pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday to nail down a Southern Section 5-A Division playoff berth for Notre Dame High, which defeated host St. Paul, 5-4, in a Mission League game.

With the score tied, 4-4, in the top of the seventh, Jim Landress and Cesar Martinez singled to open the inning. With one out, Garza (two hits) singled to load the bases. Landress scored for a 5-4 lead on a groundout to second by Dave Supple.

Garza (9-1) made it interesting in the bottom of the inning. He struck out the first batter, then yielded a single and issued two consecutive bases on balls.

“That’s when I went to the Tums,” Coach Bob Mandeville cracked.

Garza, who allowed just four hits, struck out the next batter and recorded the last out on a liner to short. Notre Dame finished 14-8-1, 8-4 in league play, good enough to tie Alemany for second place.

In other baseball games:

Royal 6, Thousand Oaks 5--Home runs by Shane Slayton and Paul Taylor helped boost Royal (16-7, 10-4) in a Marmonte League game.

Jim Chergey went two for three for Thousand Oaks (4-21, 3-11).

Hart 11, Alhambra 9--The Foothill League champion Indians (21-2, 14-0) scored three runs in the seventh to overcome a one-run deficit at Alhambra.

John Aguilar went two for three with a three-run home run in the second that gave the Indians a 6-0 lead. Doug Distaso had three hits and Soren Halliday had two.

Canyon 7, Saugus 4--Billy Sivley’s two-run homer in the sixth gave visiting Canyon a 5-4 lead in a Golden League game at Saugus. Canyon hit four home runs and handed Saugus pitcher Bobby Cowan (12-1) his first defeat.

Rio Mesa 4, Oxnard 0--The Channel League champion Spartans (17-5-1, 12-2) scored four runs in the seventh on four hits to beat host Oxnard.

Oxnard junior right-hander Armando Carrillo held Rio Mesa to just one hit--a Jon McMullen double in the fourth--through the first six innings. But Donald DiDomizio’s two-run double opened up the scoring for Rio Mesa in the seventh. John Mitchell (8-1) allowed five hits and struck out seven.

Newbury Park 7, Channel Islands 6--Robert Fick scored the winning run on a wild pitch with two out in the bottom of the seventh in a Marmonte League game.

Channel Islands (20-6, 9-5) committed a pair of errors in the seventh to contribute to Newbury Park’s rally. Fick had two hits and Zach Sutton was two for three with a home run for the Panthers (13-11, 8-6).

Montclair Prep 10, Alemany 4--Justin Paperny was two for four and drove in two runs to lead Montclair Prep (17-5-1) in a nonleague game at Alemany.

Winning pitcher Russell Ortiz (8-0) concluded his career with a record of 26-2.

Harvard-Westlake 10, St. Genevieve 6--Jon Schaeffer and Adam Richards each had two hits and drove in three runs to lead Harvard in a San Fernando League game at St. Genevieve.

Harvard (13-11, 5-5) finished in a tie with La Salle for third place in league. The teams will play today at 2 p.m. at La Salle to decide the league’s third-place playoff entry.

Paraclete 11, Mojave 7--Dave Murray and Eric Dombrowski each went two for three with a home run to lead Paraclete, which won the Desert-Inyo (Large) League title at Mojave.

Mike Ruiz also had two hits for Paraclete (12-7, 9-1). Dombrowski was the winning pitcher.

Palmdale 6, Antelope Valley 5--Dan Salazar pitched two innings of shutout relief to earn his second save and also had two hits and drove in two runs for visiting Palmdale (14-10, 9-6) in a Golden League finale.

Joe Garcia (5-6) earned the win with three innings of three-hit relief. He pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the third. Jay Mapson tripled and scored what proved to be the winning run in the sixth. Chris Paxton added two hits for Palmdale (14-10, 9-6), which finished second in the league.

Todd Barnes had a double and triple, and Jason Kresser added two hits for Antelope Valley (8-16, 6-9).

Village Christian 3, L.A. Baptist 2--Mike Rieger pitched a three-hitter and Newt Wimer drove in two runs with a double as visiting Village Christian (12-9, 5-5) secured the top spot in the Alpha League for the 1-A playoffs.

SOFTBALL

Thousand Oaks 1, Newbury Park 0--Carrie Russell (19-4) threw a three-hitter to lead host Thousand Oaks to a share of the Marmonte League championship.

Russell struck out nine and walked one for Thousand Oaks (19-4, 13-1), which finished in a first-place tie with idle Simi Valley. Thousand Oaks scored in the fourth when Suzi Klusyk singled, was sacrificed to second and scored on a one-out single by Nicole Ochoa.

Alemany 1, Notre Dame 0--Freshman right-hander Sophie Contreraz (9-3) threw a four-hitter to help the Indians (20-7, 9-1) clinch the Mission League title.

Tanya Ortiz scored on Anngela Hallak’s sacrifice fly in the fourth for the only run.

VOLLEYBALL

Crespi d. Lakewood, 15-8, 15-3, 15-2--Mike Lees had 15 kills for host Crespi (12-3) in a Southern Section 3-A Division first-round playoff match. Marcus Sumner and Cass Smith each added eight kills.

In other Southern Section first-round playoff matches:

Royal d. Quartz Hill, 15-3, 15-1, 15-3--Steve Hodge and Brett Osterhoudt each had seven kills as Royal (18-0) rolled in a 3-A match. Travis Ferguson added 26 assists.

Harvard-Westlake d. South Pasadena, 15-6, 15-7, 15-11--Steve Keck had 16 kills and Greg Young and Matt Sebree added eight apiece for host Harvard (15-4) in a 3-A match.

Hart d. Thousand Oaks, 15-12, 15-12, 15-13--Chad Strickland had 17 kills and four aces to lead host Hart in a 3-A match. Jason Horneman had 14 kills and Ken Gawley added 13 for Hart (12-3).

Notre Dame d. Camarillo, 15-4, 16-18, 15-9, 15-9--Morgan Hay had 20 kills and Tom Stillwell and Jim Swerkes added 17 and 15 kills for host Notre Dame (15-1) in a 3-A match.

Glendale d. Buena, 11-15, 15-5, 15-9, 11-15, 15-4--Nathan Callister had 21 kills and Ryan Blatchley added 15 for host Glendale (12-5) in a 4-A match.

TENNIS

Fullerton 9, Glendale 9 (Fullerton wins on games, 75-74)--The visiting Dynamiters (12-7) couldn’t hold a 9-4 lead, losing the final five sets in a 3-A wild-card match.