HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP : Crescenta Valley Beached, 4-1

Brandon Steele pitched a two-hitter and Huntington Beach surprised Crescenta Valley, 4-1, in the first round of the Southern Section Division I baseball playoffs Friday at Crescenta Valley.

With the score tied, 1-1, in the sixth inning, Huntington Beach (15-12) went ahead by stringing together three hits and a fielder’s choice for two runs.

After Jeremy Vidales, Brad Lineberger and Jason Bartusick singled to load the bases, Vidales scored on a groundout by Steele and Lineberger came home on a wild pitch by Natt Putra (9-2).

Crescenta Valley (19-4), the Pacific League champion, was ranked No. 2 in the Valley by The Times. The Falcons, who reached the Division I semifinals last year, scored when Kevin Enright’s sacrifice fly brought home Brian Peterson in the fourth inning.

Huntington Beach finished third in the Sunset League.

“Huntington Beach is a good team and they play in a very strong league,” Crescenta Valley Coach Tony Zarrillo said. “But it’s still disappointing. We thought we had a chance to go a long way.”

In other Division I games:

Bishop Amat 8, Crespi 4--The Del Rey League champion Lancers (24-3) scored five runs before the Celts (11-16) recorded the second out in the first inning at Bishop Amat.

Barry Matthews had a triple and Matt Long added a double for Crespi.

Royal 12, Peninsula 5--Brent Egan had three hits, including a three-run home run in the fifth inning, and Dorian Stitt had three hits and three runs batted for the Highlanders.

Royal (18-8) went ahead to stay on a two-out, two-run triple by Stitt in the third inning. Stitt scored on an error to give the Highlanders a 5-3 lead.

Adrian Mendoza (9-0) scattered seven hits.

St. Bernard 4, Thousand Oaks 2--Ryan Holmes hit a two-run home run in the first inning, but that was all the Lancers (18-9) could muster.

Santos Mummey shut out St. Bernard for three innings but allowed two runs in the fourth and gave way to Ryan Lane.

All of St. Bernard’s runs were unearned.

DIVISION II

Ventura 5, Lompoc 0--Jeremy Pierce and Robert Verestraeten combined on a five-hitter for the Cougars (15-9) at Ventura. Verestraeten notched his seventh save.

Jud Enderson drove in two runs for Ventura.

The Braves (13-14) threatened in the third inning with runners on second and third with one out but Pierce recorded a strikeout and groundout to end the rally.

DIVISION III

La Quinta 8, Antelope Valley 2--Kevin Barlow had two hits, including his second home run, but the Antelopes (9-15) lost to the Aztecs (24-3) at La Quinta.

Antelope starter Jeremy Holiday (5-9) was knocked out of the game after four innings.

Palmdale 4, Saugus 3--Mike Preski took the mound in the second inning and allowed only one hit to lead the Falcons (17-8) at Palmdale.

Bobby Parks drove in the winning run in the fifth with an infield single after the Centurions’ Brandon Hernandez (2-3) loaded the bases by hitting three batters.

Erick Cohen hit a three-run homer in the second for Saugus (14-11).

DIVISION V

St. Bonaventure 6, Coast Union 0--Danny Harrison (6-3) allowed a single and a walk in the second inning, then retired 18 consecutive batters to finish with a one-hitter for the Seraphs (11-8) at Coast Union.

Harrison had eight strikeouts and added two hits, including an RBI double in the first inning.

JoJo Molina singled and added a run-scoring double in the fifth.

The victory was No. 100 for Seraph Coach Dennis Johnson.

L.A. Baptist 17, LaSalle 1--John Wilson pitched a one-hitter over six innings for the Knights.

Marc Lacson hit a pair of two-run home runs and finished with three hits and five RBIs.

Village Christian 7, Bell-Jeff 3--Jason Robitaille (10-1) struck out 10 and walked none for the Crusaders (18-4) at Village Christian. David Gustafson drove in three runs for Village Christian.

Faith Baptist 6, Chadwick 5--Colby Carpenter came on in relief in the sixth inning and notched a save for the Contenders (15-9).

Judd Granzow hit a pair of two-run homers and Tim Greer had two hits and three runs.