Baseball: Ace pitchers lift San Clemente to playoff victory

Pitching is San Clemente’s strength, and the team’s two aces, John Sheaks and Kolby Allard, joined forces to lift the Tritons past Woodbridge, 2-1, in a Southern Section Division 2 wild-card playoff game on Tuesday.

Sheaks allows three hits, struck out nine and walked none in six innings. Allard, a junior who recently committed to UCLA, struck out three batters in the seventh to get the save. Woodbridge had the tying run on second.

Kent Burckle broke a 1-1 tie with an RBI single in the top of the seventh. San Clemente advances to face Chino Hills in a first-round game on Thursday.

Los Osos defeated Santa Barbara, 3-1, and will face Redlands East Valley. Malcolm Smith had a single and double. Temecula Valley defeated Cajon, 7-3. Kyle Plantier had an RBI double and an RBI single. Next up is Cypress in a rematch of last year’s Division 2 final won by Cypress.

Yucaipa defeated Etiwanda, 2-0. Damien defeated St. Joseph, 3-2. Tustin defeated Burroughs, 8-2. Jordan Hernandez hit a home run in the seventh to give Ayala a 5-4 win over Mayfair.