Villa Park Outlasts Valencia, 13-12

Villa Park, ranked No. 1 in the Southland by The Times, and No. 2 Valencia were asked to play a little longer Wednesday afternoon in a semifinal game of the Placentia El Dorado National Classic baseball tournament.

But nobody was asked to do more than Mitch Bialosky.

Normally the closer for Villa Park, Bialosky threw the final 3 2/3 innings without giving up a run, giving the Spartans the opportunity to rally for a 13-12, eight-inning victory at Anaheim Esperanza.

“I’m not used to going anywhere near that far,” said Bialosky, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound senior right-hander who began pitching last summer. “But I felt stronger as I kept going.”

Bialosky entered the game in the top of the fifth inning and was greeted by Mike Hur’s two-run double that gave Valencia a 12-11 lead.

After Bialosky’s double into the right-center-field gap tied the score in the fifth, he pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the sixth and a bases-loaded, one-out bind in the eighth.

Second baseman Kurt Gottschling hit a one-out single to center, driving in Dane Ferguson from third to end the four-hour game.

Mark Trumbo had a grand slam and a two-run triple to help the Spartans to an 11-7 lead after three innings.

Jared Clark of Valencia (10-4) had four hits, including a three-run homer in the fifth that cut the deficit to 11-10, and two walks.

Villa Park (14-1) will play No. 7 Encino Crespi in the championship game tonight at 7 at Cal State Fullerton.

The Celts scored a 10-5 victory over Greer (S.C.) Riverside (21-2), ranked No. 2 in the nation by Baseball America, in a semifinal at Placentia El Dorado.

Shaunt Bedrosian had four hits, including a grand slam, and right-hander Michael Gilmartin gave up eight hits and one earned run for Crespi (13-2).

Dan Arritt and Andre Uribe

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Softball

Pinch-runner Brooke Phipps scored from second on Elise Arrietta’s single in the top of the 12th inning to give No. 5-ranked Corona a 2-1 Mountain View League victory over No. 4 Norco.

Ashley Wilson’s pinch-hit run-scoring single in the sixth inning tied the score for Corona (11-5, 4-2).

Brittney Barger (10-5) pitched all 12 innings, had seven strikeouts and worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the 12th.

Daniela Urincho (13-3) pitched 12 innings and had six strikeouts for Norco (13-3, 4-2).

Karl Peterson

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The nonleague game Friday between Garden Grove Pacifica, ranked No. 2 in the Southland by The Times, and No. 3 Anaheim Canyon has been canceled because of Pacifica’s involvement Saturday in the Irvine Woodbridge tournament. The schools could not agree on a makeup date.

On Saturday, Pacifica will play Newhall Hart in a tournament semifinal at noon. The other semifinal, featuring Woodbridge and Thousand Oaks, will be at 2 p.m. The third-place game is set for 6 p.m., followed by the championship at 8 p.m.

Martin Henderson

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Boys’ Track and Field

Ed Cornell of Ridgecrest Burroughs will enter the boys’ discus competition of the Mt. San Antonio College Relays on Saturday as the No. 3-ranked thrower in the nation this year, but he might not be in that position had he played football this season.

Cornell, who threw a school-record 203 feet 5 to place second in the Arcadia Invitational on Saturday, played football as a sophomore and junior at Burroughs.

But he decided to give up the sport after performing poorly in the discus in the World Youth championships in Sherbrooke, Canada, last July.

“I enjoyed football and being part of the team and everything,” Cornell said, “but doing both sports was just wearing me out.”

Cornell, who had a best of 175-5 during a junior year in which he placed second in the Southern Section Division III championships, broke the 200-foot barrier for the first time when he threw 201-6 in a Desert Sky League meet at Victorville Silverado on March 31.

He topped 200 feet on three of his six throws at Arcadia and his 203-5 on his final effort moved him into a tie for fifth on the all-time Southern Section list and fell just short of the winning throw of 204-0 by senior Nate Rolfe of Bothell (Wash.) Inglemoor.

John Ortega

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Girls’ Swimming

Keicha Browner returned to practice last week at Los Angeles Dorsey, and Coach Doug Brown hopes she is back for good and ready for the Dons’ meet today at Hollywood.

The senior, who placed sixth in the City Section finals in the 50-yard freestyle last season, sat out the early part of the season after suffering a shoulder injury.

She returned to win the 100 backstroke in the Dons’ Southern League meet against Fremont on March 22 before sitting out again for two weeks, deciding whether she wanted to continue in the sport.

“She’s a natural,” Brown said. “She’s one of those girls, who, if she wants to put the time in, is a Division I swimmer easily.”

Browner is the daughter of Keith Browner, former USC and Tampa Bay Buccaneer linebacker.

-- Lauren Peterson