PREP BASEBALL HEAD Grant Wins a Title as Granada Loses Chance : Beck Leads Lancers to East Valley Crown With Shutout, Homer

The turnaround at Grant High is complete. After a 6-12 record, which earned them a fifth-place finish in the East Valley League last season, the Lancers clinched their first league baseball championship since 1981 Thursday.

Right-hander Rodney Beck almost single-handedly powered his teammates to a 6-0 victory over North Hollywood with his pitching arm and his bat.

“It was a goal,” the 6-2, 180-pound junior said of the league title, which Grant secured with its victory and Sylmar’s 3-2 loss at Verdugo Hills. “In the winter league, we knew we had a good chance for the championship because we had 11 seniors coming back and we had good juniors. It was just a matter of time.”

Beck, who pitched a one-hit, 5-0 shutout the first time he faced the Huskies this season, and was hammered for nine hits in a 5-1 loss the last time out against them, was in charge Thursday from the start. He limited North Hollywood to three singles--two by designated hitter Doug Williams and one by opposing pitcher Tim Driscoll.

Driscoll (6-4), allowed five runs and eight hits before first baseman Peter Washington relieved him following a fifth-inning leadoff walk to Jon Hauptman.

“This was the only game he hasn’t pitched well this year,” said North Hollywood Coach Brian York, who went as long as he possibly could with his sore-shouldered senior right-hander. Driscoll finished the game at second base as part of a five-position switch.

As he moved to the infield and Washington took the mound, second baseman Mike Wells shifted to shortstop, shortstop Mark Eubanks went to right field and right fielder Steve Bernstein went to first base. Grant countered these moves by switching third-base coaches.

Meanwhile, the Huskies could do nothing to counter the pitching of Beck (5-3), who struck out seven batters and exhibited flawless control in his eighth complete-game effort and third shutout of the season. The only other batter to reach base against him was Peter Straus, the recipient of a throwing error by third baseman Don Hussey, leading off the game.

Beck admitted he felt fatigued after the game, although he had struck out the last two batters and had retired 16 of the last 17 with his impressive knuckleball, curve and tailing fastball.

“He was fantastic today,” Grant Coach Tom Lucero said. “The big difference in Rodney (compared with his last start against North Hollywood) was that he spotted his pitches very well, and he had good control of all his pitches.”

After Straus’ stolen-base attempt was thwarted by catcher Sean Pettway, Beck struck out the next two hitters.

Then he came up in the bottom of the first with no outs and hit a three-run, opposite-field homer to right-center--his second of the season--for a 3-0 lead.

“I figured it would go out when I hit it because of the short right-field fence and the wind blowing out,” said Beck, who had two hits and batted in four of the Lancers’ runs.

Grant’s last three runs came on Pettway’s second-inning run-batted-in single, Rob Hunt’s third-inning sacrifice fly and Beck’s sixth-inning single.

Ninth-place hitter Neal Goldman, who had three hits and two stolen bases, injured his ankle sliding into second in the sixth and had to leave the game.