Arlington Gets Help in Upset

Riverside Arlington is starting to prove it’s more than a one-man team. The Lions upset second-seeded Huntington Beach, 3-2, in a Southern Section Division I second-round baseball playoff game Tuesday at Arlington.

Lucas Duda, a USC-bound pitcher-first baseman, earned the victory in relief, but Arlington (18-10) received its biggest contributions from some unlikely sources.

Sophomore third baseman Jeremiah Mejia knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out, wind-blown single that bounced off the glove of backpedaling shortstop Justin Ratowsky.

Mejia also scored on a two-out single by senior shortstop Eaton Rincon in the first inning and again on a two-out single by freshman pinch-hitter Faustino Delgado in the fourth.

Arlington left-hander Daniel Montanez retired 15 consecutive batters before needing help in the sixth. After Huntington Beach (18-10) tied the score, 2-2, on Nathan Keadle’s one-out single, Duda (4-0) came on in relief. He forced sophomore catcher Hank Conger to line into an inning-ending double play on his first pitch.

It was the 400th victory for Coach Gary Rungo. Arlington will play La Puente Bishop Amat, a 2-0 winner over San Clemente, in a quarterfinal on Friday.

In another Division I game, Moreno Valley Canyon Springs upset top-seeded Lakewood, 13-5.

-- Dan Arritt

Villa Park 5, Saugus 0 -- Sophomore Alex Curry (9-0) threw a seven-hit shutout, A.J. Smith had four hits and Mitch Bialosky hit a two-run home run as the top-seeded Spartans (26-2) won at Saugus (20-7-1) in a Division II second-round game.

Villa Park pitchers have thrown 18 consecutive scoreless innings in the playoffs and have given up two runs in 23 innings. Curry struck out five, walked three and was helped by two double plays off fly ball outs.

The Spartans are the division’s only seeded team to reach Friday’s quarterfinals. Second-seeded Valencia (20-8) managed only four hits Tuesday against junior left-hander Josh Romanski and lost, 4-1, to Norco (22-6).

Third-seeded Anaheim Canyon (19-9) fell, 6-5, to Newhall Hart (17-11-1) when Ryan Gagnon’s double drove in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.

Fourth-seeded Ventura Buena (22-5) lost, 8-3, to West Torrance (22-9), whose John Dunn struck out nine and had three hits, including a home run.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Orange Lutheran 7, Covina South Hills 3 -- Matt Miller had a two-run home run in the first inning and a three-run homer in the third for the Lancers (20-9) in an upset of second-seeded South Hills (20-6) in a Division III second-round game at Hart Park in Orange.

Boys’ Tennis

Five days after dismissing undefeated Los Alamitos from the Southern Section Division I playoffs, Los Angeles Loyola defeated top-seeded Corona del Mar, 11-7, in a quarterfinal match.

The defending-champion Sea Kings (20-2) were without top singles player Carsten Ball, who was participating in an out-of-state junior tournament. Filling in at No. 1 singles, Wesley Miller swept his sets.

The Cubs (19-3) won seven of nine doubles matches, including three-set sweeps by the No. 1 team of Max Ortiz and Jeff Niedermeyr and the No. 2 team of Peter Del Moral and Brian King.

Loyola plays host to fourth-seeded Irvine Woodbridge (23-3) on Thursday. Second-seeded North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake (20-0) plays at third-seeded Santa Barbara (21-1) in the division’s other semifinal.

In the Division V quarterfinals, visiting North Hollywood Oakwood (11-5) scored an 11-7 upset of top-seeded Cerritos Whitney (23-4), the division’s defending champion.

-- Elia Powers

Softball

Mindy Cowles (15-4) threw a three-hitter with seven strikeouts and no walks for top-seeded Riverside Poly in a 2-0 victory over host Rancho Cucamonga (21-7) in a Southern Section Division I second-round playoff game.

Cowles also had two hits, including a solo home run in the sixth inning that broke a scoreless tie for the Bears (23-5). Amanda Myers added an RBI single in the sixth.

Santa Maria Righetti 4, Anaheim Canyon 3 -- Tabitha Taylor had a run-scoring single in the fifth inning to give visiting Righetti (25-7) a 4-0 lead and the Warriors held on to upset second-seeded Canyon (22-8) in a Division II second-round game.