Surging Crespi receives another strong performance from sophomore Diego Velazquez

Crespi was unranked in the preseason Southern Section Division 2 baseball rankings, but coaches who vote in the poll might want to take a look at the Celts, who are 7-0-1 and still haven’t started the reigning Mission League pitcher of the year, Isaiah Magdaleno, who has been handling catching duties.

The latest Crespi win came Saturday morning, a 2-0 league win over Chaminade in which sophomore Diego Velazquez threw six shutout innings and had an RBI single.

“He’s having a heck of a start to the season,” coach Mike Glendenning said of Velazquez, who has 14 hits in 24 at-bats and has 20 strikeouts in 17 innings with a 2-0 record.

Crespi started Mission League play this week with two wins over Chaminade and a tie after Friday’s game was halted because of darkness. It’s a positive sign of the Celts’ pitching depth while waiting for Magdaleno to recover from a sore arm.

“It goes to show you the chemistry of our team and the culture of our program,” Glendenning said. “We’re doing good things.”

Sierra Canyon 3, Loyola 0: Ethan Montes threw 6 2/3 shutout innings for unbeaten Sierra Canyon, which went 3-0 this week in its Mission League debut under coach Tom Meusborn. Sierra Canyon is 8-0.

Corona 2, Foothill 0: Ethan Schiefelbein struck out seven and walked none in four innings and Jaylen White had two hits and two RBIs for Corona.

El Modena 14, Santa Ana 2: Greg Koutures finished with three hits for El Modena.

King 2, Huntington Beach 1: Jase Evangelista struck out five in three shutout innings for King. Eric Aguayo drove in both runs.

Palisades 1, Westlake 0: Mason Edwards struck out 14 for Palisades. He walked two and gave up two hits.

El Dorado 2, Yorba Linda 1: Jack Fishel struck out seven in six innings. Garvey Rumary hit a two-run home run.

Anaheim Canyon 7, Vista Murrieta 3: Austin Duarte had a three-run pinch-hit triple to pace Canyon.

Newbury Park 7, South Hills 3: Evan Needham had two hits and two RBIs for the Panthers. Derek Turner got the save.

Santa Monica 2, Venice 1: Sean Bowker struck out six in five innings for Santa Monica.

Servite 5, El Toro 0: Benjamin Dominguez threw four scoreless innings and Jonathan Rodriguez homered for Servite.

Beckman 5, Portola 2: Ashton Kanegae had two RBIs and also picked up the pitching win.

Bishop Amat 7, St. Paul 0: Moises Escobedo threw the shutout, striking out six and walking one.

Corona Centennial 6, Chaparral 4: Matthew Bernath hit a home run and Jake Morrell contributed three hits to help the Huskies improve to 7-0.