El Dorado Takes Chances and Wins

The aggressive base-running style preferred by the Placentia El Dorado baseball team was taking its toll Friday afternoon in a Southern Section Division II playoff game.

By the time the Golden Hawks reached the eighth inning, when they defeated Norco, 2-1, they’d had a runner thrown out at every base.

But that didn’t stop Brandon Schnebly from rolling the dice in the bottom of the eighth. After his one-out fly ball bounced off the glove of Norco right fielder Toby Gerhart as he crashed into the fence, Schnebly took an extra base for a triple.

With the outfield drawn in, third baseman Shaun Lane, whose error led to Norco’s first-inning run, then fouled off consecutive two-strike pitches before lining the ball about five feet over Gerhart’s head for the victory.

“We’ve always been aggressive,” said Coach Steve Gullotti of El Dorado (21-9). “We’re not going to stop being aggressive just because we’re in the playoffs. They had to make perfect throws, it was the one time they didn’t.”

El Dorado left-hander Zach Pettikas (9-4) had his second consecutive strong outing. After throwing a one-hit shutout last week against Whittier, he gave up three hits, all to Gerhart, and no earned runs to Norco (22-7).

El Dorado, which won section titles in 1999 and 2001 but finished third in the Century League this season, will play Newhall Hart in a Tuesday semifinal of wild-card teams.

There are no seeded teams left in the Division II playoffs after Villa Park, the Century League champion and top-seeded team, watched a one-run deficit spin out of control in the top of the seventh when eight consecutive Corona Santiago batters reached base en route to an 11-4 victory over the Spartans (26-3).

The Sharks (23-5) trailed, 3-0, heading into the fifth inning when Villa Park ace Mark Trumbo began to unravel. Trumbo (10-2) walked three batters and threw two wild pitches, which led to four runs. After Trumbo retired the first two batters in the seventh, he and Dane Ferguson were chased by a seven-hit barrage.

Bobby Kelly finished with three hits, including a two-run double in the seventh, for Santiago.

Dan Arritt

*

Shaunt Bedrosian had a run-scoring double in the bottom of the sixth inning and Tony Fiala followed with a run-scoring single to lift top-seeded and defending champion Encino Crespi (26-4) to a 3-2 Division III quarterfinal victory over Huntington Beach Ocean View (18-8) at Valley College.

Trevor Plouffe struck out seven, walked none and gave up five hits to improve to 11-1. Ocean View junior Jeff Roth (7-3), who had an RBI triple, gave up six hits, struck out four and walked two.

It’ll be a busy weekend for Plouffe, who attends graduation ceremonies today, then flies to Pittsburgh on Sunday for a workout with the Pirates, who are considering drafting him.

Eric Sondheimer

*

Boys’ Tennis

They will have three more years and many more meetings to settle the score but, for now, Irvine Woodbridge’s Mike McClune can claim the title of best freshman in the Southland.

McClune defeated fellow 14-year-old Jason Jung of West Torrance, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, in the Southern Section individual tournament quarterfinals at SeaCliff Tennis Club in Huntington Beach. McClune faces Santa Ana Mater Dei senior Kaes Van’t Hof, who didn’t drop a set on Friday, in the semifinals today at noon.

“It’s great being the only freshman left in the draw,” said McClune.

Santa Barbara’s Blake Muller faces Anaheim Servite’s Jonathan Sanchez in the other semifinal. The Dons’ doubles team of Grant Robinson and Chris Ho, the top-seeded team in the draw, faces Redondo’s Nick Berger and Andy Gerst, who advanced to the quarterfinals a year ago.

The Sea Hawks’ Jon Vlasach and Logan Bailey also made it to the semifinals, where they will face Calabasas’ Jake Smith and Eric Lee at 10:30 a.m.

In the City Section individual tournament, Los Angeles Belmont’s Bobby Tam and Woodland Hills El Camino Real’s Dan Escobedo advanced to the championship singles match Wednesday.

-- Elia Powers