El Segundo Meets Las Vegas Team in Regional Baseball Opener

State champion El Segundo, seeking a spot in the American Legion World Series, will begin play in the Southwestern regional at 7:30 tonight against Clark of Las Vegas at Cashman Field in Las Vegas.

El Segundo (33-7) qualified for the regional last week by winning its first state title with a 4-0 record. Clark, which finished third in its league and was 0-2 in the Nevada state tournament, qualified as an at-large entry because it represents the host city.

The winner of the eight-team, double-elimination regional advances to the World Series Aug. 27-31 at Roseburg, Ore.

Left-handed pitcher David Reed (11-1), who will be a senior at El Segundo High, is expected to start against Clark. Reed has a 21-3 record in high school and American Legion games since March.

El Segundo has also gotten excellent pitching from the other members of its staff--right-handers David Scanlan (9-1), Jamin Kear (7-1) and Frank Bignami (2-2). Bignami pitched a complete game in a 3-1 victory over Fairfield in the state tournament final Aug. 10 at Yountville. Reed and Scanlan also pitched complete games in the tournament.

With nine days off between games, El Segundo Coach John Stevenson was asked if the layoff would affect his team.

“There’s a little dead time there, but I don’t see a problem,” Stevenson said. “People have had time to rest up.”

In other first-round games today, Albuquerque plays Greeley, Colo., at 9 a.m., Honolulu meets Taylorsville, Utah, at noon, and Green Valley of Las Vegas plays Tucson at 4 p.m.

If El Segundo wins tonight, it will play again at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. If it loses, it plays at noon. The tournament continues through Tuesday.