Hoover off to stellar start

GLENDALE — Hoover High’s baseball team faced its toughest Pacific League test to date and came away unscathed on Tuesday afternoon.

With the go-ahead run in the form of Burroughs’ No. 3 hitter at the plate, Hoover senior pitcher Jason Ochart notched a strikeout with runners on first and second to end the game and give the Tornadoes a 2-0 victory at Hoover High.

“That was a big win for us,” said Tornadoes Coach Jim Delzell, whose team improved to 6-2 overall and 3-0 in league with its fifth consecutive win.

Indeed, Ochart led the way.

He went the distance, striking out five, as he improved to 4-0 on the season.

Offensively, he tallied three hits and scored his team’s first run.

“He’s just been on fire,” Delzell said. “He pitched a heckuva game.”

Ochart scored on a run-scoring single by Oscar Aguirre in the third inning.

Later that stanza, Tyler Delzell walked with the bases loaded to push Adam Ochart across for the game’s last run.

Sako Chapjian also had two of Hoover’s nine hits.

The Tornadoes were also perfect in the field.

“It was just one of those games where we had everything going,” Delzell said.

Having played three league games already, the Tornadoes are in first place by a half a game over Crescenta Valley, which beat Glendale on Tuesday, 7-2, and Arcadia, which beat Burbank on Tuesday, 4-1.

Due to a scheduling quirk, the Tornadoes don’t play again until March 25, when they host Arcadia at 3:15 p.m.