Browne Helps Pierce Move to Top Alone

Nick Browne had three hits and drove in three runs to help Pierce College move into sole possession of first place in the Western State Conference Southern Division with a 10-4 baseball victory over visiting Glendale on Thursday.

Jarod Penwarden had three hits, including a triple and a double, and drove in a run, and Kris Dominique had three hits, including two doubles, for the Brahmas (23-12, 18-8 in the WSC).

Kona Sampaio hit a two-run home run, his sixth, in a four-run eighth inning that put Pierce ahead by the final margin.

Bakersfield 13, Canyons 6--Sean Barker had three home runs for Bakersfield in a WSC Southern Division game at Canyons.

Eric Ballew hit his 16th home run of the season for Canyons (22-17, 17-9), which dropped into second place.

Pepperdine 11, Gonzaga 5--Danny Garcia had two hits--including a double--stole four bases, scored three runs and had two runs batted in for the Waves, who scored 10 runs in the final four innings of a West Coast Conference game at Gonzaga.

Jeremy Coronado had two hits and scored two runs for Pepperdine (31-9, 18-6).

BOYS’ TENNIS

Granada Hills 24, Eagle Rock 5 1/2--Vlad Kinevsky lost only two games while sweeping at No. 2 singles for Granada Hills in a City Championship quarterfinal at Burbank Tennis Center.

In doubles, the No. 2 team of Ananya Sreepathi and Mike Edelson, and the No. 3 team of Steve Choi and Anand Murthy also swept their matches to remain undefeated for Granada Hills (13-1).

Poly 17, Birmingham 12 1/2--No 1. Marco Ceballos and No. 2 Chaitanya Melick swept their matches as No. 8-seeded Poly upset No. 1 Birmingham in a City Invitational quarterfinal at Birmingham (8-5).

Poly (10-4) advanced to the playoff semifinals for the first time in school history.

Chatsworth 15 1/2, Hamilton 14--Jason Nguyen of Chatsworth (6-8) swept four singles matches in a City Invitational quarterfinal at Chatsworth.

Monroe 15 1/2, Fairfax 14--Johnny Apikian and Ashot Manukian of Monroe defeated Ho-Joon Kang and Mario Martinez, 6-4, in a decisive doubles match in a City Invitational quarterfinal at Fairfax.

Monroe (10-5) trailed, 11-5, before doubles play began. Mike Cutler and Sam Pogosian swept their matches, as did Jay Chun and Jimmy Nguyen for the Vikings.

Harvard-Westlake 14, Loyola 4--Chris Shepherd and Jon Rubenstein, who play No. 2 doubles for the Wolverines, upset Loyola’s No. 1 team of Chris Cooley and Jack Newcombe in a Mission League match at Studio City Golf and Tennis.

The victory clinched the second consecutive league title for the Wolverines (21-3-1), ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times. Harvard-Westlake and Loyola were co-champions last season.

Shepherd and Rubenstein won all three of their sets by 6-2 scores.

David Frankel swept at No. 1 singles for the Wolverines.

Crespi 16, St. Francis 2--Donald Grigware and Michael Cimino lost only one game at No. 3 doubles and did not lose a point against St. Francis’ No. 3 team of Nathan Safchuck and Timothy Bobo for visiting Crespi in a Mission League match at Fremont Park in Glendale.

The Celts (16-4, 8-4), ranked No. 1 in Southern Section Division V, are having the best season in school history and finished third in league play.

Campbell Hall 12, Crossroads 6--Adam Zunder lost one game at No. 1 singles for visiting Campbell Hall (9-8, 4-4) in a Delphic League match at Reed Park in Santa Monica.

BOYS’ SWIMMING

Crescenta Valley 384, Arcadia 351, Glendale 175--James Jenkins, Sean Winchell and Travis Taylor each won two individual events and swam on two winning relays for Crescenta Valley in the Pacific League championships at Arcadia High.

The Falcons (9-0) won their seventh consecutive league title.