AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL : Westlake-Royal to Play for Title After Defeating Valley Rangers

Brian Schuster’s eighth-inning single drove in the winning run for the Westlake-Royal American Legion team in a 7-6 victory against the Valley Rangers in a semifinal of the Sierra Nevada Classic Saturday at Reno.

Westlake-Royal (13-2-1) will face either San Mateo or Reno in the championship game today at 3 p.m.

Schuster’s hit was set up when Joel Mellinger led off the eighth with a single and took third on Randy Wolf’s wild pickoff throw. The Valley Rangers, a Glendale-based Connie Mack team that includes some of the San Fernando Valley’s best players, intentionally walked the next two batters to bring up Schuster.

Westlake-Royal sent the game into extra innings with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, scoring the tying run on a two-out wild pitch.

Woodland Hills East 12, Burbank South 1--Rusty Jenkins struck out nine and scattered three hits over seven innings as Woodland Hills East won a game called after seven innings at Taft High.

Scott Horowitz and Greg Venger each drove in two runs for Woodland Hills East (2-7). Burbank South scored an unearned run in the sixth.

Woodland Hills West 16, Antelope Valley South 4--John Novak had five hits and Justin Balser added four, leading Woodland Hills West in a District 20 game at Antelope Valley High. Craig Carlton pitched a complete game, giving up only one earned run. The game was called after seven innings because of the 10-run rule.

Canoga Park 10, Van Nuys East 4--Gus Lomeli pitched a complete game for his third consecutive victory as Canoga Park won for the sixth time in seven games. David Vargas had two hits and two RBIs for Canoga Park (7-4).

Granada Hills East 10, Mission Hills 9--Granada Hills scored seven runs in the ninth inning to pull out a District 20 victory at Alemany. Aldo Pinto scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by George Kassis.

Newhall-Santa Clarita 19, Burbank North 0--Lucas Solomon pitched four scoreless innings and was three for three with two doubles, leading Newhall-Santa Clarita (9-1) in a District 20 game at Burbank High.

West Hills 6, Palmdale 4--Adam Crecion homered and pitched five scoreless innings, picking up the victory for West Hills (5-5) in a District 20 game at Chaminade High.