Knights Prevail in Cross Fire : Baseball: Notre Dame left-hander pitches three scoreless innings of relief for 6-4 victory.

Every few days or so, Chris Cross plays the role of Superman for Notre Dame High.

Cross did it again Tuesday against visiting Granada Hills. Only this time, he forgot to leave his glasses in the phone booth.

No matter. Donning a pair of black horn-rims only made Cross, a junior left-hander who throws sidearm, that much kookier for opposing batters to behold. And Cross saved the day again, hurling three scoreless innings in relief as the Knights rallied for two runs in the sixth to post a 6-4 victory in a Birmingham tournament pool-play game at Notre Dame.

The Knights (7-5-1) finished 2-1 in the tournament and did not advance to today’s championship round. Granada Hills (9-6) will play University today at Grant High at 10 a.m. for third place in the Blue Division.

“I’ve been told I look like Clark Kent with them on,” Cross said of his pair of black-framed spectacles. “Acting like him? I don’t know.”

Cross (2-2), making his ninth appearance of the season, relieved starter Matt Egan with none out in the fifth and a runner on first. Cross induced Jimmy Landress to ground into a rally-killing double play, then retired Jarrett Gold to end the inning.

Cross was hardly challenged thereafter, yielding only a seventh-inning single to Tom O’Brien and hitting Adrien Torres with a pitch. Cross, who struck out two, ended the game by inducing Landress to ground into a fielder’s choice.

Notre Dame rallied for two runs in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Chris Crowley and an RBI groundout by Steve Maitland to decide matters.

But it was Cross who held the Highlanders in check.

“He’s a very good closer and he throws a lot of strikes,” Notre Dame Coach Tom Dill said. “He always goes after people. You want to go with a guy like that.”

Dill repeatedly has summoned Cross this season to provide opposing batters with a glimpse of something different. This time, the side-arm delivery was only part of the picture.

Cross, who wears eyeglasses off the field, decided this time to take the bookworm look to the mound.

“I’ve had these since Little League,” Cross said. “I had a 300-pound guy step on them once and they didn’t break, so I figured they’ve gotta be good glasses.”

Egan was tagged for two runs in the first inning and another in the fourth but failed to hold the lead after the Knights had battled back to take a 4-3 lead into the fifth.

In the fifth, Jarrod Penwarden tagged Egan for a leadoff triple and Torres drew a walk.

Enter Cross.

“To have me come in and throw sidearm left-handed, it really throws them off,” Cross said. “It’s a thrill for me, really.”

Penwarden scored from third when Landress hit into the double play. That tied the score, 4-4, but quieted the rally.

Notre Dame scored a run in the first inning, then moved ahead in the second on a two-run home run by Crowley. The Knights extended their lead to 4-2 in the fourth on a run-scoring single by freshman Sal Trujillo.