AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : Verdugo Hills Wins on Squeeze

Ben Malen’s suicide squeeze with one out in the eighth inning scored Corby Foster in Verdugo Hills’ 1-0 victory over Quartz Hill on Wednesday in a District 20 American Legion playoff game at Birmingham High in Van Nuys.

Quartz Hill (16-7), seeded No. 3, was the first team knocked out of the 10-team, double-elimination tournament.

David Gantt (4-2) pitched a five-hitter for Verdugo Hills (16-7), striking out eight and walking one. Gantt, who recently graduated from Glendale High, pitched a perfect game last spring for the Dynamiters.

Verdugo Hills’ David Boger had two hits.

In other District 20 playoff games:

Valley North 9, Newhall-Santa Clarita 2--Tony Montiel hit a two-run home run and Bryan LaCour was three for six with three RBIs, leading Valley North to an upset of the No. 2-seeded team at Burroughs High in Burbank.

Montiel’s homer broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the fifth. LaCour drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double in the seventh inning. Rod Daryabigi also added two hits for Valley North (15-8).

Jim DeBiase (5-1) picked up the victory by pitching seven innings. He gave up one run on seven hits and struck out six.

Aaron Dean hit his seventh home run for Newhall-Santa Clarita (17-6).

Encino 7, Van Nuys West 1--Barry Matthews scattered seven hits in 7 1/3 innings for Encino at Birmingham High. The loss eliminated Van Nuys West (13-10).

Matthews, a right-hander who will be a junior at Crespi, gave up one earned run and one walk. He struck out five. Jon Cuccias pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for Encino (17-6).

Encino put the game away with six runs on five singles in the bottom of the third inning.

Encino right fielder Ray Munoz had three of his team’s eight hits.

Woodland Hills West 13, Antelope Valley South 12--A game between teams known for offense and not for pitching was high-scoring, as expected.

Unexpected, though, was top-seeded Antelope Valley South being upset at Burroughs High.

Woodland Hills West (16-7) will face Van Nuys East in a winners’ bracket game at 4:30 p.m. today at Burroughs.

Antelope Valley South (18-4) drops into an elimination game against Encino at 1 p.m. at Birmingham.

In today’s other matchups, Verdugo Hills will meet Newhall-Santa Clarita at 10 a.m. at Birmingham, and Sun Valley will face Valley North at 1 p.m. at Burroughs.