DIVISION I : Crespi’s Suppan Turns Back Ocean View

It was your basic dominating day for Encino Crespi pitcher Jeff Suppan. One of many this season.

He overpowered Ocean View on the mound and muscled it at the plate. Suppan’s 4-2 victory at Ocean View put the top-seeded Celts in Tuesday’s Southern Section Division I semifinals.

Crespi (27-2), which is trying to become the first No. 1-seeded team to win the division since Lakewood in 1970, plays Esperanza Tuesday at Blair Field in Long Beach.

Only one thing marred Suppan’s performance. He gave up a home run, the first in two seasons. Catcher Mike Bellovich homered to left in the sixth inning to cut Crespi’s lead to 3-2.

It gave the Seahawks a brief moment of giddiness. Very brief.

“That home run bugged me a little,” Suppan said.

Suppan struck out the next three batters.

“It looked like that home run pumped him up a little,” Crespi Coach Scott Muckey said.

Suppan homered on the the first pitch he saw in the seventh, giving the Celts and himself a little breathing room.

“Bellovich’s home run may have been the worst thing we could have done,” Ocean View Coach Steve Barrett said.

Suppan struck out two of the final three batters, including Steve Rivera to end the game.

“You have to have some luck to win in the playoffs,” Barrett said. “Ours ran out when that kid took the mound.”

Many have felt that way this season.

Suppan (11-1), who will attend UCLA next year, entered the game with a 0.85 earned-run average. He had 113 strikeouts and only 11 walks in 82 innings.

His performance Friday was along those lines. He allowed only four hits, struck out 11 and walked two. Suppan struck out four consecutive batters in the second and third.

“He tied us up all day,” Barrett said. “He took care of us in short order.”

The Seahawks did get to Suppan for a run in the third, when Rivera doubled and was singled home by Scott Foreman. But, other than Bellovich’s home run, his seventh of the season, Suppan had the upper hand.

He also made things difficult at the plate with two hits. His home run was his 11th this season and it raised his runs batted in total to 51.

“That’s the best kid we’ve faced this year,” Barrett said.

The Seahawks (22-9) needed to play a perfect game against such talent. They didn’t, making three errors.

Ocean View starter Justin Brunette (6-5) started strong, striking out two of the first three batters. He took a shutout into the third and probably should have kept it.

With two outs, Gus Jordt appeared to be picked off first base. However, he was ruled safe and then scored on a single by Casey Snow, his 42nd RBI. Snow later scored on a wild pitch and a throwing error by Bellovich.

Kyle Carden also had a sacrifice fly to give the Celts a 3-1 lead in the fifth.

It was all Suppan needed.

“You have to get to him early,” Muckey said. “Once he smells the victory, he gets too tough.”

In another Division I quarterfinal:

Esperanza 8, Hesperia 1--Jason Murrietta had two hits and four RBIs, including a two-run home run in the fourth, and Jason Webb had two hits and an RBI for the Aztecs, who led, 7-0, after 3 1/2 innings. Marcus Jones pitched five innings, giving up one earned run and six hits to earn his 11th victory for unseeded Esperanza (23-5). Hesperia ended 18-8.