Canyon Takes It to Hart Again on Hit by Blanken

Josh Blanken’s two-run single with two out in the seventh inning gave Canyon High its second consecutive upset of Hart, 5-4, Friday in a Foothill League game at Canyon.

Hart (16-3, 5-2 in league play), top-ranked in The Times’ regional poll, led, 4-2, with two out in the seventh before Mike Pinoski reached first base on catcher’s interference to score Mike Kennedy before Blanken delivered.

Ben Metcalf had a triple and a double for Canyon (6-10, 3-4). J.T. Stotts hit two singles for Hart.

Saugus 11, Valencia 0--Luke Miller hit a three-run home run and Justin Babin had a two-run home run during a five-run first inning for the Centurions in a Foothill League game at Valencia 12-6, 4-3) that was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

Ron Clark had two hits for Saugus (6-11, 3-4), including two-run triple.

St. Francis 11, Harvard-Westlake 10--Fernando Valenzuela Jr. hit a home run on the first pitch of the seventh inning to give the Golden Knights a Mission League victory at Brookside Park.

Matt Thayer (1-3) started for Harvard-Westlake but was pulled while St. Francis (6-4, 2-3) was scoring eight runs in the first inning.

Thayer returned later and gave up the home run to Valenzuela, who also had a double.

Thayer had three hits, driving in two runs, and Matt Felder had three hits, driving in two runs and scoring twice for Harvard-Westlake.

Dos Pueblos 7, Buena 6--Edgar Loza singled home the winning run for the Chargers in the seventh inning of a Channel League game at Dos Pueblos (5-9, 2-3).

Kurt Probasco had three hits and three RBIs for the Bulldogs (7-9, 2-3).

Simi Valley 8, Westminster 4--David Land had two hits, including a three-run home run, and Andy Karp had two hits to help the Pioneers win in the Chino Hills tournament.

Right-hander Tim Say (4-1) scattered nine hits for Simi Valley (8-6), striking out four and walking three.

Rio Mesa 12, Oxnard 5--Greg Ramirez (6-1) pitched a five-hitter with eight strikeouts for the Spartans in a Channel League victory at Rio Mesa.

Richard Martinez had two hits, including at two-run homer, and John Ramirez had two hits and scored two runs for Rio Mesa (12-4, 5-1).

Hueneme 9, San Ramon Valley 8--Rigo Garcia had three hits and Chris Neri had two hits and drove in two runs for the Vikings (11-5) in a victory at the San Luis Obispo tournament.

Palmdale 9, Lancaster 5--Mark Hendricks went four for four with three doubles and three RBIs, and the Falcons (12-4, 7-0) beat the Eagles (9-6, 2-4) for the third time this season in a Golden League game at Lancaster.

Steve Payte of Lancaster struck out 12, but allowed 11 hits.

Antelope Valley 5, Quartz Hill 3--Mike Seward pitched a seven-hitter for the Antelopes, striking out six in a Golden league game at Quartz Hill (9-7, 3-4).

Mike Place had two hits for the Antelopes (5-9, 3-3), scoring twice and driving in one run.

Malibu 12, Moorpark 3--Josh Birenbaum held the Musketeers hitless for 4 2/3 innings and had three hits to help the Sharks (9-3, 5-2) move into first place in the Frontier League for the first time in school history at Malibu.

Calabasas 15, Nordhoff 5--Randy Curtis had three hits and drove in six runs for the Coyotes (5-10, 3-3) in a Frontier League game at Nordhoff.

Todd Segal had three hits and scored three runs for Calabasas before suffering a shoulder injury in the sixth inning.

Brian Wood had a home run and three RBIs for Nordhoff.

Fillmore 12, Carpinteria 6--George Caserez hit a two-run single during a nine-run first inning for the Flashes in a Tri-Valley League game at Fillmore.

Ryan Lemons added a two-run single in the fifth inning for Fillmore (9-2, 5-0).

Taft 8, Cleveland 5--Brothers Jason, Jeff and Mitch Spector had eight of the Toreadors’ 11 hits in a Northwest Valley Conference victory at Cleveland.

Jason Spector had two hits and three RBIs for Taft (7-10, 4-4).

Tony Cicero had three hits for Cleveland (11-5, 4-4).

Kennedy 16, Grant 5--Tim Arroyo had two hits, including a two-run home run, and three RBIs for the Golden Cougars (16-5) in a Kennedy tournament game halted after five innings because of the 10-run rule at Kennedy High.

Arroyo’s home run to right field in the fourth inning landed on Woodley Avenue, and is the longest Coach Manny Alvarado has seen as the Golden Cougars’ coach.

Arroyo (3-1) allowed five hits and two earned runs in four innings.

Enrique Navarrete had two hits, including a home run, and four RBIs for Kennedy (16-5).

Michael Marble had two hits for Grant (5-12).

Poly 10, Reseda 2--George Felix hit a home run in the first inning and Juan Guerrero drove in two runs for the Parrots in a Valley Pac-8 Conference game at Poly.

Manny Flores had a run-scoring double for Poly (11-2-1, 6-0-1).

Pasadena 4, Glendale 3--Jorge Rojas had two singles and three runs batted in for the Dynamiters (5-11-1, 3-3-1) in a Pacific League game at Glendale.