SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL SPOTLIGHT : FACTS, FIGURES AND COMMENTS FROM FRIDAY’S PLAYOFF GAMES : LAST GASP

* Redondo Coach Tim Ammentorp knew his team was in trouble when it entered the seventh inning trailing Troy, 7-2.

“We were in deep water, no doubt about it,” he said.

Redondo, though, remained afloat.

The Sea Hawks rallied for five runs in the top of the seventh to tie the score, and Scott Albin’s lead-off home run in the eighth provided the winning run in a 9-7 victory in a Southern Section Division II playoff opener in Fullerton.

Redondo (19-9) sent nine batters to the plate in the seventh. The first six batters reached base and the Sea Hawks had five consecutive hits, including a three-run homer to left field by Morgan Ensberg that tied the score. It was the second home run of the game and the second of the season for the junior shortstop, who also hit a solo homer.

“I didn’t think I hit it that hard,” Ensberg said. “The wind just carried it.”

In the seventh, Redondo chased Troy starter Rick Parmenter and roughed up reliever Greg Western, who took the loss. The Sea Hawks’ comeback stunned Troy Coach Dane Illertsen, whose team finished 19-7-1.

“We had every opportunity,” said Illertsen, shaking his head in disbelief. “We played good defense. We had the lead. We had our best pitcher (Parmenter) on the mound.”

Albin (8-2), who pitched a four-hitter in Redondo’s 7-0 victory over Glendora in a wild-card game Tuesday, earned the victory with two innings of one-hit relief. Albin will be the starting pitcher Tuesday when Redondo plays host to Valencia of Placentia (15-10) in a second-round game. Valencia advanced with a 13-10 victory over Burroughs of Burbank.

CAUGHT LOOKING

When asked if El Rancho left-hander Randy Flores was the best pitcher El Segundo had faced this season, Eagle Coach John Stevenson had a quick response.

“He’s No. 1, 2 and 3,” Stevenson said. “We haven’t seen anybody who’s even close.”

Flores held El Segundo without a hit after the first inning and struck out 13 to help El Rancho defeat the fourth-seeded Eagles, 3-2, in the first round of the Division III playoffs at Recreation Park.

El Segundo (20-7) got all three of its hits and scored its runs in the first inning. After that, Flores kept the Eagles off balance by mixing pitches and changing speeds. He finished by striking Out nine of the last 12 batters.

“I was a little tentative in the first inning,” Flores said. “I wanted to be perfect. Once I went at them, it worked out. Instead of being scared of them, I said, ‘Here, hit the ball. If you’re going to hit it, hit it, but it’s going to be my best pitch.’ ”

Flores’ best pitch was a curveball on the outside part of the plate. El Segundo batters were caught looking on six of 13 strikeouts, including all three in the seventh inning.

“I’m very disappointed in that,” Stevenson said. “But let’s give credit to the pitcher. His pitches were probably right on the corner. But, no, you can’t be (taking third strikes), especially in the last inning when you’ve got three outs and the season’s over. That’s not acceptable.”

The victory completed a big week for Flores, who signed a letter of intent with USC on Tuesday. He improved to 7-2.

“It has been nothing but pats on the back all week,” Flores said. “It looks like it’s going to be a pretty good weekend, too.”

REPEAT DEFEAT

Friday’s first-round loss marked the second year in a row that El Segundo was eliminated from the playoffs by a Whitmont League team. Last season, La Serna beat the Eagles, 5-4, in the second round behind the five-hit pitching of Jason LeBlanc, who now plays for Pepperdine.

El Rancho (13-10) finished third in the Whitmont League this season.

“They must have some awfully good baseball in that Whitmont League if they’re a third-place team,” Stevenson said.

HIT PARADE

If West Torrance can last a few more rounds in the Division III playoffs, second baseman Derek Nicholson might have a shot at the Southern Section record for most hits in a season.

Nicholson was three for five in West’s 12-5 first-round victory over host Quartz Hill to give him 49 hits this season. The section record is 57, shared by Tom McKay of Montclair Prep (1981) and Jeff Cirillo of Providence (1987). The South Bay record is held by Tate Seefried of El Segundo with 55 hits in 1990.

Nicholson, a junior, improved his average to .532 by hitting two run-scoring doubles and a single against Quartz Hill. He has 14 doubles and 33 runs batted in.

He’ll get a chance to increase his numbers Tuesday when West (17-10-1) plays host to Palo Verde of Blythe (16-9) in a second-round game. Right-hander Hauss Hancock (4-2) will start for the Warriors.

OUT OF THEIR LEAGUE

Winning the Bay League title didn’t prepare Peninsula for Ocean View and its ace pitcher, Jason Brunette. A hard-throwing left-hander, Brunette pitched a one-hitter and drove in two runs to lead the Seahawks, the third-place team from the Sunset League, to a 4-1 Division I playoff victory at Peninsula.

Brunette lost his no-hit bid in the seventh when Peninsula’s Pat Hubbard bounced a two-out single to left field, scoring Masaki Shimoda, who had reached base on an error.

Peninsula Coach Garry Poe couldn’t pinpoint a reason for the loss. The Panthers, who won the Bay title with an 11-1 record, finished 18-7.

“When you lose, you look for some flaw,” Poe said. “But there weren’t any flaws. They just played better than we did. We were confident, but I know we didn’t take them lightly. How could we take them lightly? They had 20 wins.”

Brunette (4-4) kept Peninsula off balance by mixing his pitches. Ocean View improved to 21-8.

“He gave us combinations we didn’t want to see,” Poe said. “(He threw) the curveball in the dirt and the high fastball and we didn’t lay off them. Normally we don’t swing at that many bad pitches in a month.”

Unfortunately for Peninsula, starting pitcher Arin McCarthy (7-2) also showed Poe combinations he didn’t want to see. The junior right-hander walked six batters and was charged with three runs in three-plus innings.

TURNING TWO

South Torrance turned two double plays in a 10-6 Division III playoff loss against Irvine to finish the season with 29 double plays, a South Bay record and the fifth-highest total in Southern Section history.

The previous area record was 27 double plays by Hawthorne in 1990. Ventura holds the section record with 36 double plays in 1988.

The infielders who turned a majority of South’s double plays this season were second baseman Jon Thompson, shortstop Paul Weeks and third baseman Josh Waybright.

STREAKS

* Redondo’s 9-7 victory over Troy was its 16th in 19 games after a 3-6 start.

* El Segundo left-hander David Reed (10-2) had his string of 10 consecutive victories snapped in a 3-2 defeat by El Rancho.

* Top-seeded Crespi (25-2) extended its winning streak to 15 games with a 7-2 Division I playoff victory over Hawthorne (10-15).

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE

Mary Star has qualified for the Southern Section playoffs nine of the past 10 seasons. But when it comes to the Stars’ postseason showings, not much is said.

Mary Star had not won a playoff game since 1985 until Friday, when the Stars rallied for a 9-4 victory over Santa Paula in a Division IV opener at Fromhold Field in San Pedro.

“We joke about it, but it’s kind of been hush-hush,” Mary Star Coach Ray Estrada said.

The Stars’ streak might have continued had they not erased a 4-2 deficit by scoring seven runs with two outs in the sixth inning.

“I was thinking, ‘Oh no, here we go again,’ ” Estrada said.

Mary Star (17-7) tied the score, 4-4, on three consecutive hits in the sixth, and went ahead when sophomore shortstop Iggie Galaz hit a bases-loaded triple.

IN QUOTES

Hawthorne Coach Greg Goode on Crespi right-hander Jeff Suppan (10-1), who held the Cougars to eight hits and struck out 10 in a 7-2 Celt victory: “He throws in the upper 80’s; harder than anyone we’ve faced. He’s able to put the ball where he wants. The bottom part of our lineup was overmatched.”

South Torrance Coach Scott Spector after his team squandered a 5-2 lead in a 10-6 loss to Irvine: “Our pitching sort of fell apart for one of the few times this year. . . . Our pitchers got behind hitters, and (Irvine) could sit on the ball.”

West Torrance Coach Harry Jenkins after correctly calling tails in a coin flip Saturday to determine the home team for Tuesday’s game against Palo Verde of Blythe, located near the Arizona border: “I’m damn happy we’re playing that one at home.”

El Segundo Coach John Stevenson, assessing the season after a 3-2 loss to El Rancho: “It was a successful year. We did what we set out to do as far as winning (the Pioneer League title). I think a lot of people didn’t see us as the No. 1 team in the league. We wanted to win 20 games and we did that. We wanted to stick around in the playoffs, but it just wasn’t to be this year.”