El Toro Eliminated in Wild-Card Game

One of the biggest collapses of the season was completed Wednesday, leaving perhaps the Southland’s best hitter out of the Southern Section softball playoffs.

Northwestern-bound shortstop Stephanie Churchwell of Lake Forest El Toro was denied a chance at winning the Division I title when the Chargers lost a wild-card game to visiting Etiwanda, 1-0.

Less than two weeks ago, El Toro (20-10) had been ranked No. 5 in the Southland by The Times, but lost its last four games after pitcher Tanza Lewis (16-3) had surgery to remove a benign cyst from her thyroid.

The Chargers didn’t even win the South Coast League title, tying for second with Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley, two games behind Dana Point Dana Hills, after turning to sophomore Lindsay Correa (4-7), who had five losses in the last six games.

Churchwell blamed a team hitting slump -- not the pitching change -- for the late slide.

“I don’t think anyone saw it coming,” Churchwell said after the wild-card loss. “Most people I talked to had us winning league and going pretty far in [the playoffs].

“I know I’ve been crying for the past hour. It really is a tough way to go out. As a senior, you want to have your best game ever, and you want to be champ, but it doesn’t always happen.”

Churchwell, who batted leadoff, finished the season with a .474 batting average, with 30 runs scored, 10 home runs, 16 runs batted in and a .928 slugging average.

-- Martin Henderson

Swimming

San Pedro’s Jeff Hart, Jeff Martinez, Cameron Nelson and Ivan Perhat broke a 39-year-old City Section record in the 200-yard freestyle relay at the section’s preliminaries at Los Angeles Memorial Pool.

San Pedro’s time of 1 minute 30.04 seconds bettered the previous standard of 1:30.40, set by Lake Balboa Birmingham in 1965.

“We were going for it today,” said Nelson, a junior who swam the third leg. “It would be great if we could break it again.”

The Pirates, runners-up in the City championships behind two-time defending champion Palisades last season, will get the chance during section finals Wednesday at the same site.

Perhat, a senior and a native of Croatia who moved to the United States at 5, is on track to defend the section titles he won last year after recording the top qualifying times in the 100 freestyle (47.18) and the 200 freestyle (1:46.99).

Palisades’ Cara Davidoff, the City champion in the 50 freestyle the last three years and in the 100 freestyle in two of the last three years, deferred to teammates in those events but still had the top times in the 200 freestyle (1:55.35) and the 100 butterfly (59.40). The Dolphins are the defending girls’ champions.

Without Davidoff in the 50 freestyle, Woodland Hills El Camino Real junior Jessica Chen was the top qualifier in 25.06. She also had the best time in the 100 backstroke in 1:04.18.

Granada Hills senior Steven Park, the defending champion in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke, was the fastest qualifier in both. He clocked 1:59.13 in the IM and 1:00.71 in the breaststroke.

-- Lauren Peterson

Boys’ Tennis

Anaheim Esperanza Coach Keri Wood can’t help but measure her team against its rival, Sunset League champion Los Alamitos (17-0).

“It’s always intense when we meet,” said Wood, whose Aztecs finished runner-up to the Griffins in league this season. “Anytime we go further than Los Al [in the playoffs] we’re happy.”

That didn’t happen last season. Los Alamitos won 14 of its last 16 matches, including a victory over North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake in the Southern Section Division I team quarterfinals. Esperanza bowed out in the second round.

Wood’s team, which did not beat the Griffins during the regular season, has a chance to stay on pace with Los Alamitos today as both play host to second-round matches. Esperanza (16-3) faces Santa Ana Mater Dei (15-4) and Los Alamitos meets Mission League runner-up Los Angeles Loyola (16-3).

Los Alamitos breezed past Santa Margarita, 17-1, in the first round Tuesday. Esperanza scored a tough, 10-8 first-round victory over Irvine University. The Aztecs’ top three singles players, Daniel Ikuta, Robby Woo and Ryan Mayer, went a combined 7-2 in their sets, helping to offset only three points from the doubles teams.

-- Elia Powers

Track and Field

Canyon Country Canyon appears to have an outstanding middle-distance runner in the making in sophomore Adam McDonald, who will run in the Division I races of the boys’ 800 and 1,600 meters Saturday in the Southern Section championships at Cerritos College.

McDonald, who is 6 feet 2 and 150 pounds, was the No. 6 runner on a Canyon cross-country team that finished seventh in the Southern Section Division I final in November.

But he has really hit his stride in track, as evidenced by his winning performances in qualifying heats of the 800 and 1,600 Saturday in the Division I preliminaries.

McDonald’s times of 1 minute 55.89 seconds in the 800 and 4:18.03 in the 1,600 were both personal bests and his time in the 1,600 was the fastest of the meet, coming in a race in which he ran the second 800 meters nearly seven seconds faster than the first.

“He’s the total package for a middle-distance runner,” Canyon co-Coach Dave DeLong said. “He’s got the height, the smoothness and the ability to kick.”

-- John Ortega

Football

Mike McCarthy resigned after two seasons as Inglewood Morningside’s coach to take an assistant coaching and teaching position at Fullerton Sunny Hills.

McCarthy, who lives in Fullerton, led Morningside (12-2) to the Southern Section Division X championship game this season, where the Monarchs lost to Lompoc.