HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : El Camino Real’s Wolf Tops Taft on No-Hitter

A minor change made a major difference for left-hander Randy Wolf on Tuesday.

Wolf pitched a no-hitter with a career-high 14 strikeouts to lead El Camino Real High to a 3-0 West Valley League victory over Taft in the regular-season finale at El Camino Real.

The no-hitter was the first for El Camino Real in at least 14 years, Coach Mike Maio said.

Wolf, a junior, said he tinkered with his windup Monday because he was throwing across his body while following through.

“It’s funny,” he said. “All I pretty much did was change my windup just a little by raising my hands up over my head.

“I’d never done that before, but it felt 100% better. I don’t coil up as much now.”

The Conquistadores (20-2, 16-1 in league play), ranked third in The Times’ area poll and eighth in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, also set a school record for league victories in a season. Taft (18-8, 8-9) handed El Camino Real its only league defeat two weeks ago.

“It’s great (avenging the loss), especially in the last game of the year,” Wolf said. “It’s like it was all planned.”

Wolf (9-1) threw 96 pitches, walking three and facing three batters over the minimum. He retired the final 10 batters, eight on strikeouts.

Justin Balser and Craig Carlton hit run-scoring singles in the first inning against senior right-hander Brandon Witkow (9-2), who defeated the Conquistadores two weeks ago.

In the fourth, Justin Martin scored from third on a throwing error.

In other City Section baseball games:

Chatsworth 13, Reseda 2--Bryan LaCour and Brandon Murphy each were three for five for the Chancellors in a West Valley League game at Chatsworth. LaCour had two doubles and a triple and drove in two runs. Murphy had two doubles and drove in three runs.

Junior right-hander Jim DeBiase (10-3) struck out three in four innings to earn the victory.

Monroe 12, Birmingham 5--Joel Zamudio was three for three with two doubles and three runs batted in and also was the winning pitcher for the Vikings (18-4, 15-2) in a Mid-Valley League game at Monroe.

Monroe’s Darrell Folck was three for four with a double and three RBIs.

Cleveland 3, Granada Hills 0--Mike Immken had a no-hitter into the sixth inning and finished with a two-hit shutout for the Cavaliers in a North Valley League game at Granada Hills.

The victory clinched third place for Cleveland (5-12, 6-14) and improved its chances of earning a wild-card berth in the City 4-A Division playoffs.

Kennedy 4, San Fernando 1--Jeff Tagliaferri drove in three runs with a double in the third inning, helping the Golden Cougars (23-3, 14-3) to a North Valley League victory at Kennedy.

Tommy Manning stopped San Fernando (11-10, 9-8) on a four-hitter.

North Hollywood 7, Grant 3--Sophomore left-hander Mike Delano (3-1) pitched a two-hitter with six strikeouts to lead the Huskies (11-11, 8-9) to an East Valley League victory at North Hollywood.

Van Nuys 8, Canoga Park 7--Juan Colon was two for three with three runs and two stolen bases, but most of the Wolves’ offense came from eight errors in a Mid-Valley League game at Canoga Park (6-15, 3-14)

Benjamin Navarrete recorded the final out for Van Nuys (9-15, 6-11) with the tying and winning runs in scoring position.

Verdugo Hills 9, Wilson 3--Eric Schmidt, David Bryant and Matt Fitzgerald hit home runs for the Dons (8-9, 5-4) in a Northern Conference game at Verdugo Hills.

Sylmar 6, Poly 4--The Spartans combined five hits and two errors for five runs in the top of the seventh inning in an East Valley League game at Poly.

SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

St. Francis 13, Highland 10--Mike Jaramillo hit his first two home runs of the season and Dan Bir was three for five for the Golden Knights (8-14) in a Division III wild-card game at Highland.

Richard Luna picked up the victory against the Bulldogs (14-9-1), who had won their last six regular-season games. St. Francis, which started the season 1-11, will meet Santa Fe in the first round of the playoffs Friday.

The Golden Knights trailed, 7-6, before putting the game away with six runs in the fifth.

Hueneme 9, San Luis Obispo 0--Ricardo Garcia and Jeff Oliveras combined on a one-hitter for the Vikings (14-11) in a Division II wild-card game at Hueneme. Garcia pitched the first five innings, allowing a single in the first, and Oliveras finished the game.

At the plate, Garcia was three for four and scored three runs and Oliveras hit his second home run of the season. Robert Ralston and Kris Gundrum were each two for three for Hueneme, with Ralston adding four RBIs and two triples.

Hueneme will play at Hart on Friday in the first round.

Oakwood 7, First Lutheran 2--In winning the Division VI wild-card game. Oakwood (9-7) will meet Cate on Friday in the first round. First Lutheran finished 14-6.

CITY SECTION SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS

Carson 8, Chatsworth 7--The Colts scored twice in the top of the 11th inning and the Chancellors left Lisa Holzedl stranded at second in the bottom of the inning of a 4-A first-round game at Chatsworth.

Nicole Grizzell was one for three, including a three-run home run to highlight a six-run sixth inning for Chatsworth (11-5).

Cleveland 2, Sylmar 1--The Cavaliers (8-8), the lowest-seeded team in the 4-A playoffs, upset fifth-seeded Sylmar (17-6) on Oliva Miguel’s four-hit, five-strikeout performance.

Cleveland scored the game’s first run in the fifth on Jennifer Finkbeiner’s groundout.

The Cavaliers took a 2-0 lead in the sixth on Amanda Palardy’s run-scoring single.

Sylmar responded with a run in the bottom of the sixth, but could not overcome the Cavaliers.

San Fernando 3, El Camino Real 2--The Tigers scored three runs in the top of the seventh to overcome a two-run deficit and upset El Camino Real (16-8) in a first-round 4-A game.

Franklin 6, Grant 4--Veronica Olguin had two hits and Danica Parra pitched a two-hitter with seven strikeouts to lead the Panthers (13-3) to a first-round victory in the 3-A playoffs.

Grant finished 10-7.

BOYS’ CITY TENNIS PLAYOFFS

Chatsworth 20 1/2, University 9--No. 1 singles player Rafael Huerta won all four of his sets to lead the Chancellors (11-2) into the 4-A final against Taft on Monday at The Racquet Centre in Studio City.

No. 1 doubles team Parag Vaish and Mike Seeman won all their sets for the second match in a row.

Taft 15, Palisades 14 1/2--A combined five victories by Taft’s No. 1 singles player and its No. 1 doubles team helped the Toreadors reach the title match.

Devir Levy defeated Damon Stein, 6-4, at No. 1 singles.

Taft (11-3) won six singles sets and six doubles sets.

Taft’s No. 1 doubles team of Jason Uslander and Brian Sobel won two of three sets, beating Palisades’ No. 1 team of Jeff Manson and David Elperin, 6-2.