With wind blowing, Harvard-Westlake wins battle of pitchers, defeating JSerra 2-1

Two high school baseball teams that could easily play in the Southern Section Division 1 championship game if there are playoffs this season met on a windy Tuesday in Encino. Harvard-Westlake went with its ace, Cal-bound Christian Becerra. JSerra went with its ace, UCLA-bound Gage Jump.

To no one’s surprise, hits were hard to come by. Jump, with a 94-mph fastball, struck out seven in 3 2/3 innings until he was removed with the bases loaded and two outs because he reached his pitch count. A bases-loaded walk drawn by freshman Bryce Rainer tied the score at 1-1.

JSerra got its only run off Becerra on two hit batters, an intentional walk and a force out in the top of the third. Becerra went five innings.

In the end, the Wolverines (3-0) broke through when Jordan Kang got a bases loaded sacrifice fly in the fifth for the 2-1 victory. David Lozano got the save.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 9, Santa Ana Mater Dei 0: The Knights (3-0) scored the first runs of the season off Mater Dei pitching. Junior Jackson Frankovich contributed two hits and four RBIs. Junior Jack Gurevitch had a home run. Junior Angelo Aleman hit two doubles. Junior Jonathan Peric allowed one hit in 4 1/3 innings.

El Dorado 20, Esperanza 4: Senior Bryce Gamble went five for five with two home runs, including a grand slam, and finished with eight RBIs.

Mira Costa 6, Santa Monica 4: Nick Bacura hit another home run to lead Mira Costa.

Dana Hills 12, Santa Margarita 7: Aedan Anderson contributed a home run, triple and five RBIs.

Glendora 4, Sunny Hills 3: Braydon Wooldridge and Matt Gonzales each had two hits.

Yucaipa 20, Roosevelt 8: Jacob Reimer had a two-run home run and finished with three hits and three RBIs for Yucaipa (3-0). Wes Hickey went four for four with two doubles.

San Clemente 8, Segerstrom 1: Nathan Beckley had a home run, double and single, and Ben Dwinell struck out seven in 3 2/3 innings.

Temecula Valley 6, Corona Santiago 5: Temecula Valley scored four runs in the eighth.

Sierra Canyon 3, Alemany 0: Bryce Bond and Max Martin combined on a no-hitter.

Viewpoint 12, Glendale 4: Will Lashever finished with three hits. Lucas Herman added three RBIs.

Beckman 6, Portola 4: Cade McGuire hit a home run and Nick McLain had two hits for Beckman.

Loyola 14, North Torrance 5: Alex Orman and Ethan Haggarty each had three RBIs for the Cubs.

Villa Park 2, Brea 1: Brady Watson got the game-winning RBI.

King 14, Canyon Springs 5: Evan Yates finished with three hits and five RBIs.

Crespi 7, El Camino Real 2: The Celts got their first win of the season. Joey Blank had three hits and two stolen bases.

Laguna Hills 1, Irvine University 0: Mike Burke allowed four hits in six shutout innings.

Long Beach Poly 8, La Serna 7: Ryan Skjonsby had three hits.

Bonita 5, El Toro 4: Bonita got the win in 12 innings.

Vista Murrieta 11, Corona Centennial 3: Greg Goldman had two doubles and three RBIs.

Chaminade 3, Birmingham 1: Miles Ghossein and Wolf Mahoney each had two hits for Chaminade. Sean Youngerman struck out five in four innings of relief.

Softball

Los Alamitos 8, Norco 4: In a game that lived up to the hype of No. 1 Norco vs. No. 3 Los Alamitos, it was the Griffins overcoming a Norco home-run barrage and coming back from a 4-0 deficit to pull out the entertaining nonleague win.

Sophie Nugent was a tough out all day and Giselle Alvarez had a key two-run double for Los Alamitos and finished with four RBIs. In the third inning, Norco batters hit three consecutive home runs starting with Mya Perez, followed by Alyssa Hovermale and Katie Terrazas.

El Camino Real 10, Chaminade 0: Jillian Kelly threw a no-hitter and struck out 11.

Villa Park 7, St. Anthony 1: Sydney Somerndike struck out 13 in five innings.