Combs Leads the Way for Santa Barbara

For someone who admitted having playoff jitters, senior right-hander Jonathan Combs of Santa Barbara High came through with a performance Friday that set the standard for how pitchers are supposed to pitch in pressure-filled games.

Combs struck out two, walked none and induced 10 groundball outs in Santa Barbara’s 2-1 victory over Newhall Hart in a first-round Southern Section Division II playoff game at Santa Barbara High.

“There are a lot of guys who make a living doing what he did today, throwing strikes,” Hart Coach Jim Ozella said.

Only once was Hart (15-11-1) able to get its leadoff batter on base against Combs (9-2), who never wavered even after junior Chris Valaika’s leadoff home run in the sixth inning gave the Indians a momentary boost in confidence.

“He did a great job out there,” Valaika said. “He came out with intensity and threw a lot of first-ball strikes.”

Combs said he was nervous because last season he gave up six runs in the first inning of an 11-1 playoff loss to Agoura.

All day, his stomach was churning, leaving it up to his teammates to serve as his sports psychologists.

“The guys calmed me down and helped me relax,” he said.

Crucial to the victory for the Dons (21-5) was getting off to an early lead. Credit Eric Bowman, who contributed an RBI double in the first on an 0-2 fastball from losing pitcher J.P. Slauenwhite (5-3).

Chuy Deloera added an RBI double in the fourth inning for the Dons, the Channel League champions.

Valaika, a junior shortstop, showed why he’ll be one of the most recruited players in Southern California next season. Besides having two of Hart’s five hits, he made two outstanding plays on defense.

Eric Sondheimer

Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley 14, Rialto 8--Jason Corder hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and drove in six runs for the visiting Cougars (17-11), the two-time defending Division I champions who advanced out of the wild-card round.

Rialto, No. 18 in The Times’ rankings, finishes its season at 17-8.

Crescenta Valley 2, L.A. Loyola 1--Freshman Trevor Bell provided the margin of victory for the top-seeded Falcons with a solo home run with one out in the sixth inning in a Division II first-round game at Crescenta Valley.

Kris Krise threw a two-hitter with seven strikeouts for No. 5 Crescenta Valley (23-3).

UC Santa Barbara-bound pitcher Andy Graham (3-5) threw a five-hitter for Loyola (17-10). The Cubs tied the score in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Brendan O’Donnell.

Phelan Serrano 6, Covina Charter Oak 1--Randy Woolard had two hits and an RBI and Jordan Craft (5-4) threw an eight-hitter to lead the Diamondbacks (14-9-1) to an upset victory in the first round of the Division III playoffs. Second-seeded Charter Oak (19-4) was ranked No. 13 by The Times.

*

In volleyball:

Simi Valley Royal d. Newport Harbor, 15-13, 11-15, 15-13, 10-15, 15-12--Senior middle blocker Kyle Vondrak had a school-record 44 kills, including 29 in the third and fourth games, to lead Royal to a Southern Section Division II quarterfinal playoff victory at Royal.

Vondrak, who had 19 kills in an hour-long third game, scored the last two points on a block and a kill to clinch the Highlanders’ victory. Vondrak’s kill total broke the school record of 43 set last year by David Russell, who is now at UCLA.

Royal senior setter Bart Kowalski had 90 assists, three short of the school record set by John Baxter in 1995 and equaled by Baxter in 1996.

The fourth-seeded Highlanders (23-6) rallied from deficits in each game they won. Baxter’s younger brother, Kevin, had 33 kills, including 12 kills in the third game, and 17 digs. Shawn Farrell had 14 kills and Darren Miller had 20 digs for Royal.

Senior outside hitter Greg Perrine had a team-high 27 kills and middle blocker Erik Peterson had 24 for Newport Harbor (26-7).

Lauren Peterson