La Quinta Rallies for 6-2 Victory
Ed Arreola’s three-run triple capped a four-run seventh inning and Westminster La Quinta High pulled away from Anaheim Esperanza for a 6-2 victory Wednesday in a semifinal baseball game of the Toyo Tires National Classic at Cal State Fullerton.
Esperanza had intentionally walked Ian Kennedy in the fifth inning to get to Arreola, who flied out to left field to end a threat. In the seventh, the senior center fielder blasted reliever Greg Miller’s fastball to the wall in right field to clear the bases. He had four runs batted in.
La Quinta will face La Puente Bishop Amat, a 12-4 winner over Placentia El Dorado, at 7 tonight at Cal State Fullerton. It is the first time in three National Classic appearances that La Quinta (15-1), No. 5 in The Times’ regional rankings, has made the final.
Kennedy (6-0), La Quinta’s ace, struck out 11 and gave up two unearned runs during the complete-game victory to reduce his 0.47earned-run average even more.
In the other National Classic semifinal:
Bishop Amat 12, Placentia El Dorado 4--Andrew Soto went four for four and drove in three runs as the No. 2 Lancers (12-2) blasted the No. 14 El Dorado (11-4).
Ben Bolch
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Simi Valley 10, Saugus 5--Dylan Gaughen struck out six in two innings of relief to earn a save, and hit a three-run home run to lead Simi Valley in the Thousand Oaks tournament final.
Villa Park 7, Rocklin 2--Erik Averill (3-2) gave up three hits and struck out seven in five innings for No. 19 Villa Park (12-4) in the championship game of its own tournament.
In softball:
Thousand Oaks 4, Oak Grove Sheldon 1--Mandy Kilionski (5-0) pitched a three-hitter with eight strikeouts, had two hits and drove in two runs for Thousand Oaks (9-4-1) in the Best of the West tournament final.
