PREP BASEBALL / CITY FINALS : Fremont on Rise, Seeking 8th Title

Fremont High, once a dominating power in City baseball, had difficulty dominating opponents in the Southeastern Conference early this season, finishing fifth in the nine-team conference.

But after winning six of its last seven games, Fremont has an opportunity to win a record eighth City baseball title in today’s 3-A Division final against Crenshaw at 4 p.m. at Dodger Stadium.

The Pathfinders won six City championships between 1939-48, including three in a row from 1946-48, but have not won a title since 1963. Dorsey and Granada Hills, which have won six and five titles each, respectively, are the only other schools to win more than four championships.

“The school is surprised and excited, and I’m pleasantly surprised to be in the final,” first-year Coach Marshall Gelb said. “We’ve had a little bit of a down period over the years, but things are starting to get better. I’d like to restore our tradition.”

Fremont (17-7) started conference play 4-4, but finished with a 10-6 record. Hitting has been the key to the Pathfinders’ resurgence.

Fremont had 36 hits and scored 25 runs in its three playoff victories. Fremont, which has a team batting average of .336, has been led by shortstop James Lofton (.443) and catcher Alfonso Alvarado (.449).

Lofton scored four runs and had four stolen bases, and Alvarado had three hits and drove in two runs during Fremont’s 14-1 victory over Washington in the semifinals on Monday. Lofton leads the team in runs batted in (20) and steals (24).

Crenshaw (17-6), which advanced to City championship games in football and basketball this year, will be making its first appearance in the title game since its Darryl Strawberry-led team reached the final in 1979.

Sophomore Michael McNeely (1-0), a converted catcher, will start for the Cougars. McNeely went the distance in a 3-1 quarterfinal victory over top-seeded Garfield in his first time on the mound.

In the 4-A final at 7:30 p.m., San Pedro will attempt to become the first school from outside the San Fernando Valley to win a large-division championship in 20 seasons against top-seeded Sun Valley Poly.

Both schools are seeking their first City title. San Pedro (21-4), the Southern Pacific Conference champion, had not advanced to the championship game in 30 years.

Steve Ralph (.351), who drove in the winning run during the eighth inning of San Pedro’s 7-6 victory over second-seeded University in the semifinals, heads a lineup that includes five hitters batting over .300.

Poly (21-4), which lost in the final in 1987, has won 15 games in a row, but needed three one-run victories in the playoffs to advance to the final. Left-hander Allen Allegria (8-2, 1.69 earned-run average), who earned a save in the Parrots’ 3-2 semifinal victory over Chatsworth, will start.