St. Pierre Pitches In and Kennedy Wins

Tim St. Pierre’s pitches weren’t lighting up the radar guns, but the senior right-hander showed that throwing strikes can go a long way.

St. Pierre scattered five hits and allowed three runs in 6 1/3 innings as Kennedy High defeated Lancaster, 6-3, Saturday in the championship game of the San Fernando Valley baseball tournament at USC’s Dedeaux Field.

The Cougars (5-0) got a victory from St. Pierre, their first baseman, and showed their pitching staff goes deeper than aces Adam Geery and Eric Moore.

Without his best stuff, St. Pierre (1-0) survived on command in key moments.

With two out and the bases loaded in the third inning, he got Art Ortiz, Lancaster’s top power threat with four home runs, to hit a pop fly.

“A fastball on the black to a power guy on a night when you don’t have your best command takes a lot of guts,” Kennedy Coach Manny Alvarado said.

It was St. Pierre’s best piece of pitching and it came at a crucial time. On the next pitch to Tyler Bain in the fourth inning, St. Pierre allowed a solo home run.

St. Pierre wasn’t rattled. He retired the next seven hitters in a row.

Danny Mata dropped a routine fly ball in center with one out in the sixth inning, but shortstop Chad Shaw turned an unassisted double play to end the threat.

“He pulled that knuckle-curve out of his back pocket,” Alvarado said. “That’s not usually a pitch that he commands, but he did [Saturday night].”

Phil Avlas hit a three-run double in the second inning to give Kennedy a 5-0 lead.

Mata and Shaw each had two hits for the Cougars who collected nine hits off three Lancaster (3-1-1) pitchers.

In other San Fernando Valley tournament games:

Thousand Oaks 20, Van Nuys 0--David Anderson (1-0), Aaron Brusell, Greg May and Chris Austin combined on a five-inning one-hitter for the Lancers (3-2) in a consolation game that was called because of the 10-run rule at Thousand Oaks.

Damian Fante had three doubles and three runs batted in for the Lancers, and Matt Brown had a two-run home run and a run-scoring double.

Anderson pitched two innings, allowing a single, striking out two and walking three.

Notre Dame 11, Eagle Rock 1--Freshman Julian Gestowitz hit a pinch three-run home run in the fifth inning of a consolation game halted by the 10-run rule at Notre Dame.

Tom Curiel had two hits for Notre Dame (3-2).

Birmingham 6, Montclair Prep 3--Jose Carillo had a two-run double and a run-scoring single for the Patriots (3-2) in a consolation game at Birmingham.

Jimmy McGrath had two hits and two RBIs for the Patriots, Kevin Pollack had two hits and one RBI for Montclair Prep.

Cleveland 4, Westlake 3--Senior right-hander Mike Goodman (1-1) and Robert Marcial combined on a two-hitter for the Cavaliers (4-1) in a consolation game at Cleveland.

Goodman (1-1) struck out seven and allowed one run in five innings, and Marcial earned his second save.

Outfielder Steve Boyer hit his third home run for Cleveland.

Chaminade 7, Grant 1--T.J. Franco (1-1) struck out eight and walked four in six innings, allowing one earned run on four hits for the Eagles (3-2) in a consolation victory at Grant (3-2).

Cody Haerther had two run-scoring doubles for Chaminade.

Sophomore Jeremy Harrison (0-1) struck out 11, walked two and hit one batter in six innings, allowing one earned and one unearned run on four hits.

Quartz Hill 20, L.A. Marshall 0--Carlos Burkhart had four hits and five RBIs, and Dustin Petzold had four hits and three RBIs for the Rebels in a consolation game at Marshall (0-5) that was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

Burkhart hit a two-run home run and three run-scoring singles, and Petzold hit a two-run home run and a run-scoring single for the Rebels (3-2).

Poly 9, Harvard-Westlake 5--The Parrots (1-3-1) scored five runs without a hit on five walks, two errors and four stolen bases in the fifth inning to and beat the Wolverines in a consolation game at Poly.

Calabasas 6, North Hollywood 1--Justin Segal (2-0) pitched six scoreless innings to extend his streak to 13, with seven strikeouts and two walks for the Coyotes (3-2) in a consolation victory at North Hollywood.

Ilie Kramar had two sacrifice flies, and Michael Benford tripled and doubled for the Coyotes, who had home runs from Kevin Cohn and Shane Hunter.

Glen Anderson of Calabasas struck out three in the seventh inning.

In Westside tournament games:

Hueneme 7, Channel Islands 2--Ruben Cruz hit a three-run home run and Sabino Pitones had a two-run double to help the Vikings (4-1) take third place in the Blue Division at Channel Islands (2-3).

Beverly Hills 9, Ventura 8--David Miller’s three-run home run in the sixth inning of a Blue Division consolation game at Beverly Hills (2-3) tied the score, 5-5, for Ventura.

The Cougars (2-3) allowed four runs in the bottom of the inning and scored three in the seventh, but the comeback fell short when Ryan Aikins grounded out to end the game with two runners on base.

Royal 6, Alemany 5--David Talley’s seventh-inning run-scoring single lifted the Highlanders to the consolation title at Royal (4-1).

San Fernando 5, Buena 4--Danny Salazar’s run-scoring single in the 10th inning lifted the Tigers in a consolation game at San Fernando.

Miguel Gonzalez (1-0) struck out six in three innings for San Fernando (4-1).

Camarillo 3, Canyon 2--Andrew Berkovich had a two-out, two-run single in the sixth and the Scorpions (3-2) won a consolation game at Camarillo.

Chris Seddon (0-2) struck out 10 and walked one for Canyon (3-2), allowing one earned run.

Valencia 5, Antelope Valley 0--Jeff Braun and Kyle Wilson combined for a no-hitter at Valencia.

Braun struck out five and walked four in four innings. Wilson struck out four and retired all nine batters he faced.

Tony Palmeiri and Robert Herrick each had two-run singles for the Vikings (3-2).

El Camino Real 9, Palmdale 2--Jason Kort, Chad Boyd and Chris Scott each had two hits two RBIs and Kort hit his first homer of the season to lead the Conquistadors.

Will Savage pitched six innings for El Camino Real (3-2), striking out four.

In El Segundo tournament games:

Simi Valley 4, El Segundo 2--Chris Froehlich hit a three-run double in a four-run seventh for the Pioneers at El Segundo (2-3).

Carson 6, Agoura 4--Adam Hersh hit a home run and two doubles for the Chargers (3-2), but the Colts (4-1) used five walks, a balk and two hit batters to win a consolation game at Agoura.

In a nonleague game:

St. Bonaventure 5-8, Paraclete 4-0--Josh Berrington pitched a four-hitter with 12 strikeouts for the Seraphs (4-1) swept at Paraclete.