HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Diaz Fuels Sylmar’s 7-4 Victory

A triple in the eighth by Art Diaz gave Sylmar High a two-run lead and the Spartans held off Santa Monica for a 7-4 victory Tuesday in a pool play game of the Westside tournament at Santa Monica.

Diaz, who went three for four with three RBIs and scored three runs, later stole home in the eighth to help Sylmar (1-2) claim its first victory.

Senior right-hander Carlos Velazco went the distance, struck out 12 and walked two in eight innings. All four Santa Monica runs were unearned against Velazco (1-0).

Velazco added three hits and an RBI for the Spartans.

In other Westside tournament games:

Harvard-Westlake 10, Montclair Prep 8--Jon Schaeffer went three for five with a home run and scored three runs to lead the Wolverines (3-0) past Montclair Prep (2-1).

Darrell Dent and teammate Andrew Miller each went three for four. Dent’s two-run home run in the third gave the Mounties a 3-1 lead. But, the Wolverines responded with five runs in the the fourth.

Chris Anderson was two for three for Harvard.

Alemany 6, Saugus 2--Bill Scott’s three-run double keyed a five-run first inning for Alemany and the Indians (2-1) held on to beat Saugus (2-1).

Doug Segraves and Rob Glenn each had two hits for Alemany.

Oxnard 15, Venice 3--Junior Eric Mendoza (1-1) struck out five and walked one while scattering six hits for Oxnard (2-1). Mendoza also scored twice in a two-for-three, two RBIs performance.

Chaminade 5, Beverly Hills 3--Senior right-hander Joel Orme had five strikeouts and three walks and scattered five hits to lead Chaminade (2-1).

Chaminade’s Adam Crecion was two for two with three stolen bases and scored the go-ahead run in the fifth inning on a single by Jason Giovannettone. Scott Shubeck led off the fifth with a home run to right-center to tie the score, 3-3.

Channel Islands 6, Palisades 0--The Raiders scored all their runs in the seventh inning. Kenny Long scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly and also pitched a shutout, scattering three hits.

Channel Islands only had three hits, but Palisades made three errors, walked six batters and hit another.

St. Bernard 5, Rio Mesa 2--Manny Perez homered and drove in both runs for Rio Mesa (1-2).

San Fernando tournament:

El Camino Real 4, Poly 0--Tony Kyber picked up his first victory with a seven-hit shutout at Poly.

Randy Wolf and Craig Carlton both turned in two-for-four, two-RBI performances for El Camino Real (2-0), while Sam Vizcarra and Luciano Cuevas each went two for three for Poly (1-1).

Grant 3, Cleveland 2--Adam Frank’s one-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning drove in Alex Rose with the winning run for host Grant (1-2).

Kennedy 7, South Gate 5--Terrmel Sledge’s two-run triple keyed a seven-run sixth inning for Kennedy (2-0).

Kennedy had five of its seven hits in the sixth inning. Devin Connolly batted twice in the inning and produced an RBI single in each at-bat.

Birmingham 2, San Fernando 1--Junior right-hander Pedro Rodriguez pitched a two-hitter and struck out seven to pick up his first win for host Birmingham (1-1).

L.A. Invitational:

Reseda 7, Canoga Park 4-- Alonzo Arreola went two for three including a three-run home run in the second inning to lead host Reseda (2-0).

Catcher Victor Oliveres led Canoga Park (1-1) with a four-for-four, two-RBI performance, including a double and a triple.

Loara tournament:

Newbury Park 6, Laguna Hills 1--Keith Smith (2-0) pitched a five-hitter and struck out six for Newbury Park in a seventh-place quarterfinal game.

El Segundo tournament:

Royal 18, El Segundo 8--Joel Mellinger and Shawn Fossen led the parade with four of the game’s eight home runs to lead Royal (3-0).

Mellinger drove in seven runs in a three-for-four performance, while Fossen finished the day at four for five with three RBIs.

Edison 8, Simi Valley 1--The Pioneers stuck out 10 times and could only manage five singles. Nathan Celusta (0-1) pitched five innings and allowed eight hits and five earned runs for Simi Valley (2-1).

Crespi 8, Burroughs 3--Brad Farlow (two for three, four RBIs) hit a three-run home run to key a six-run sixth inning for the Celts (2-0-1).

Brea-Olinda 4, Westlake 3--Mike Hays was two-for-three in a losing effort for Westlake (2-1).

John Stoddard singled in Charley Heintz with two out in the sixth with what proved to be the winning run for Brea-Olinda (3-0).

Nonleague:

L.A. Baptist 4, Azusa 2--Nate Laufer pitched a three-hitter and drove in the winning run with a single in the bottom of the sixth inning at L.A. Baptist.

Laufer struck out nine and held Azusa (0-1) hitless for the first three innings and the final 3 1/3 as L.A. Baptist improved to 2-0.

Buckley 9, Chadwick 4--Micah Pechersky was three for four, with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs, for host Buckley (2-0).

Three pitchers--T.J. Armstrong, Keith Armstrong and Mitch Brim--combined on a one-hitter. Three of Chadwick’s four runs were unearned.

Oakwood 8, Flintridge Prep 7--Dave Goldfried and Dan Morgan had consecutive hits to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs with two out in the bottom of the sixth in a game called because of darkness.