Crespi Still Thriving in Arms’ Race

Royal High, the underdog of the Southern Section Division I baseball playoffs, finally got bit. Crespi, a team that figured to be out of pitching, remains armed, dangerous and alive.

The Celts downed Royal, 5-3, Friday in a quarterfinal at Royal, getting a surprisingly strong effort from starter Tim Leveque and a gutsy relief performance by ace Brian Felten.

Royal (18-9), a wild-card entry which had won its three previous playoff games on the road, stranded 11 runners, six in scoring position.

The Celts face Millikan, a 3-1 winner over Mater Dei, in a semifinal Tuesday at Blair Field in Long Beach.

Friday, Crespi got an early lead and held the Highlanders at arm’s length the rest of the way.

“Anytime you get down in the playoffs it’s hard to come back,” said Royal Coach Dan Maye, whose team trailed, 4-1, after two innings but had the winning run at the plate in the seventh. “We didn’t get close in the middle innings; we left too much to the end.”

Crespi Coach Scott Muckey figured his team would have to pitch by committee after Felten threw 6 2/3 innings in Tuesday’s victory over Anaheim Servite. Leveque, who had last started May 2, hadn’t gotten out of the second inning in any of his previous three starts, Muckey said.

“I felt like we’d probably have to pitch everybody, starting with [Leveque] because our other guys are more familiar with [relief pitching],” Muckey said. “We felt after three innings he wouldn’t owe us anything.”

The right-handed sophomore gave Crespi 5 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and one run. He struck out one, walked five, threw two wild pitches and induced eight groundouts.

Felten surrendered three hits and two runs, both earned, while striking out five in 2 2/3 innings.

Crespi (22-8) led, 3-0, before the game was five minutes old. Nick Rita and Anthony Trejo led off the first with consecutive singles and No. 3 hitter Andy Campanella followed with a three-run home run.

The Celts took a 4-0 lead in the second when Joey Gennaro reached first on a fielder’s choice, stole second and scored on a single by Trejo.

Royal, which stranded three runners in the first and two in both the second and third innings, scored its first run in the second when Danny Daugherty doubled, took third on a wild pitch and was singled home by Tyrone Kimbrough.

Crespi increased its lead to 5-1 in the sixth. Pinch-hitter Christian Cardenas singled, stole second, moved to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on a single by Gennaro.

Royal pulled to within 5-3 in the sixth, but again squandered scoring chances. Mike Byer drew a lead-off walk and was replaced at first by pinch-runner Kendall Simmonds. Daugherty followed with a single, moving Simmonds to second, and both advanced a base on a wild pitch.

However, with two runners in scoring position, Kimbrough and Bobby Egan struck out. Mike Rainer doubled Simmonds and Daugherty home but Brett Wayne grounded out to quash the rally.

In the seventh, Royal had runners at first and third with two out, but Daugherty struck out to end the game.

For Crespi, Trejo had three singles and three runs batted in and Rita had two singles. Daugherty had a single and a double and Egan had two singles for Royal, which lost in the quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons.

The victory was Crespi’s third over Royal in the past year.