Torrance second baseman Aubrey Robinson makes a diving catch on a Westchester hit to shallow right in the third in a Babe Ruth final at Kendall Park in Torrance Thursday. Westchester won the first game 6-5.
A supply of arms boosted Westchester to the Babe Ruth Southern California championship.
Jay Sterner worked a strong six innings in a 6-5 win in the opener and Angel de la Torre and Carlos Jacobo combined for a 5-0 shutout in the nightcap as Westchester defeated Torrance for the title Thursday night at Torrance Park.
"Pitching carried us the whole way," Westchester coach John Lopatto said. "We had strong outings by our starters and our relievers. Guys worked hard. They wanted this."
Sterner, who will be a junior this fall at Culver City High, made the biggest impact of any Westchester player. In the opening game, Sterner allowed just one hit by Torrance (3-2) for five innings before giving up two runs on three hits in the sixth. Sterner retired 13 batters in a row before allowing a leadoff infield single to open the sixth by Torrance's Nathan D'Emilia.
Overall, Sterner (1-0) struck out four and walked one on a four-hitter. He also hit a batter. Offensively, Sterner went 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs.
Westchester jumped on Torrance for three runs in the first two innings. L.J. Gilliam hit a two-run single to left and A.J. Imatusuga also drove in a run for a 3-0 lead.
In the second, catcher Anthony Chavez had a two-run single that bounced out of the glove of
left-fielder Daniel Enos, which allowed another run to score.Torrance entered the seventh trailing 6-2 before making a game of it. After scoring two runs in the fifth, Torrance produced three runs in the seventh - all unearned - and had a chance to steal a victory and eliminate Westchester. But Torrance came up short. It seemed to have a lingering effect in the second loss.
"We had a shot at the end of the first game," said Torrance coach Dave Timmerman, whose club won three straight to reach the championship game before dropping the final two games to Westchester. "Bases loaded and the No. 5 hitter up. They were on the ropes.
"But credit to them. I've got to tip my cap to them."
After Reggie Castro relieved Sterner to pitch the seventh, Torrance loaded the bases with one out. Mike Timmerman ran out an infield single with one out before D'Emilia reached on an error. After Aubrey Robinson popped out to short, Jackson Cooper reached on an infield single. Nathan Santiago and Ryan Eastburn followed with consecutive infield hits and and Gota Tamasaki drew a bases-loaded walk to pull Torrance to within a run.
But de la Torre forced Cody Wissler to ground out to second to clinch the victory and earn the save.
In the second game, Westchester (5-1) coasted. Sterner, who went 1-for-4 with two RBI, drilled a two-run homer by smacking a 3-1 fastball off Torrance starter Ryan Siebert over the scoreboard in right-center to highlight a four-run second inning.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.