HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL / SOUTHERN SECTION CHAMPIONSHIPS : Esperanza Beats Simi Valley for Title

Anaheim Esperanza High senior Marcus Jones, out last season because of a bad shoulder, pitched a two-hitter to lead his team to a 3-0 victory over Simi Valley in the Southern Section Division I baseball championship Wednesday night.

Before 8,011 at Anaheim Stadium, Jones (12-2) handed the second-seeded Pioneers their second shutout of the season. Simi Valley (27-4) entered the game as the country’s top-ranked team by several publications.

Esperanza had eliminated the Pioneers in the playoffs in 1986 and ’88.

The Aztecs, who won their last 16 games, finished the season with a 25-5 record. The title was their first since 1986.

Esperanza scored all of its runs in the bottom of the first inning. Shortstop Poncho Ruiz hit a two-run single and scored on a two-base error charged to catcher Kevin Nykoluk.

DIVISION II

Pitcher Seth Bean doubled in the winning run with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Lompoc a 3-2 victory over Goleta Dos Pueblos and the Division II championship.

It was the first time two Santa Barbara County teams have met in a sectional title game.

Second-seeded Lompoc (25-4) led, 2-0, through six innings.

First baseman Jesse Shannon tied the game with a two-run double to right field in the seventh.

Bean gave up five hits in nine innings to improve to 12-1.

Senior Scott Randall (11-3) pitched a complete game for Dos Pueblos (22-7).

Lompoc, which won its last 18 games, won its first sectional title since 1979.

DIVISION III

Ronnie Hall singled in two runs with two out in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Tustin a 3-2 victory over Westminster La Quinta in the Division III championship game.

La Quinta (25-6) took a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh inning.

Besides Hall’s two runs batted in, he pitched a complete game, giving up seven hits and striking out five. Hall finished the season 12-2.

La Quinta’s Jim Livernois finished 13-3.