Facing a must-win situation to get back into the Foothill League baseball race, Hart High came through with a 2-1 win over first-place West Ranch on Wednesday to pull within one game of the Wildcats (7-1).
Ian Edwards came through with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief with four strikeouts. Taj Brar started and struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings. Eddie Gutierrez hit a solo home run and finished with three hits. Nolan Stoll went three for three to lead West Ranch.
Hart is trying to give retiring coach Jim Ozella a league title in his final season as coach. The Indians (6-2) were swept by Saugus in a two-game series earlier in league play, forcing them to beat West Ranch on Wednesday and again on Friday at West Ranch to be able to pull into a tie.
Servite 1, Santa Margarita 0: Austin Boatwright had an RBI single in the top of the seventh inning to help Servite stun No. 2-ranked Santa Margarita. Miles Scott threw six scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
JSerra 8, St. John Bosco 6: Dmitri Susidko finished with three RBIs and Tyler Dunning had two hits to lead JSerra. Zach Woodson had three hits for St. John Bosco and Owen Stelzer had a three-run home run.
Foothill 1, Villa Park 0: Noah Macalino had a sacrifice fly in the first inning, and three Foothill pitchers made the run stand up.
El Dorado 3, El Modena 1: AJ Frausto struck out nine in a complete game for El Dorado.
Aliso Niguel 5, San Clemente 2: Jarett Sabol and Brandon Tatch each had two RBIs for Aliso Niguel. Tatch had a home run.
Chaminade 6, Bishop Alemany 1: Adam Batmanian threw a two-hit shutout with seven strikeouts. Ryan Silver had two hits.
Crespi 5, St. Francis 3: Krystan Bell finished with two hits and two RBIs for the Celts.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 8, Sierra Canyon 1: Dom Cadiz and Levi Sterling hit home runs and Erik Puodziunas struck out six in four innings while allowing one hit for the Knights.
Harvard-Westlake 19, Loyola 2: The Wolverines put together a 12-run fifth inning in the Mission League win. Duncan Marsten had four hits and struck out six in five innings. Freshman Drew Rico had two hits and three RBIs.
Huntington Beach 11, Edison 1: Ethan Porter hit a three-run home run and finished with four RBIs for the Oilers. CJ Weinstein had two doubles.
Los Alamitos 6, Fountain Valley 4: The Griffins (20-5) reached the 20-win plateau. Gavin Porch had a home run.
Corona 7, Corona Centennial 3: The Panthers increased their lead in the Big VIII League behind Sam Burgess, who struck out nine in six innings. Trey Ebel had three RBIs. Anthony Murphy and Seth Hernandez contributed two hits each.
Corona Santiago 4, King 2: Tyler Blade, Mathias Fox, Austinrae Gamell and Barrett Ronson each had two hits for Santiago.
Birmingham 6, Cleveland 3: Michael Figueroa threw a complete game to lift Birmingham to 8-0 in the West Valley League. Carlos Esparza and Andrew Valdez each had two hits. Ricardo Rodriguez had two RBIs.
Granada Hills 5, El Camino Real 1: The Highlanders remain in second place in the West Valley League. Jackson Lyons had three hits.
Chatsworth 3, Taft 1: The Chancellors picked up the West Valley League win. Francisco Nava hit a two-run home run.
Damien 2, Rancho Cucamonga 1: Nathan Ries struck out five in six innings for Damien. Julian Hines and JT Lovato had two hits each.
Garden Grove Pacifica 8, La Palma Kennedy 0: Matthew Futami struck out nine in six innings. It was career win No. 300 for coach Mike Caira.
Ayala 11, Alta Loma 3: Eric Hernandez and Jaden Valenzuela each finished with three RBIs.
Cypress 11, Crean Lutheran 4: John Short contributed two hits and three RBIs for Cypress.
Mira Costa 10, Santa Monica 0: Alito McBean struck out nine in five innings and Lucas Schermer had three hits and three RBIs for Mira Costa.
Softball
Granada Hills 4, Birmingham 0: Lainey Brown went four for four and Annabella Ramirez hit a two-run home run for Granada Hills. Addison Moorman struck out seven with no walks.
Norco 12, Corona Centennial 2: The Cougars hit five home runs. Savannah Gonzalez had a three-run home run.
