AMERICAN LEGION PLAYOFFS : Bergren Pitches 5-3 Upset
Reseda-Cleveland, which barely qualified for postseason play, pulled its second straight upset, shocking Newhall-Saugus, 5-3, on Thursday at Birmingham High to remain unbeaten in the District 20 American Legion playoffs.
Mike Bergren, a right-hander who will be a senior next season at Cleveland High, pitched a complete game, scattering seven hits to advance Reseda-Cleveland (17-6) to today’s matchup with Van Nuys-Notre Dame (18-5). That game has been rescheduled for 3 p.m. at Birmingham.
Newhall-Saugus (18-5) plays Glendale, which lost to Van Nuys-Notre Dame, 7-6, at 11 a.m. at Birmingham.
Reseda-Cleveland, which entered the tournament as a wild-card team from the Western Division, knocked off a first-place entry for the second straight day, beating Newhall-Saugus, the winner of the Northern Division. On Wednesday, Reseda-Cleveland defeated Chatsworth, winner of the Western Division, 5-2.
Bergren (6-2), who walked two and struck out eight, shut down the heart of the Newhall-Saugus order. Gary Morgan, Donnie Pedersen and Tom Dodson--the 3, 4 and 5 batters--combined for one hit, Dodson’s solo home run in the ninth, the only earned run Bergren allowed.
Ron Conway and Chris Burch each had two hits and a run batted in to account for four of the team’s six hits off Travis Regnolds, who suffered his first loss in six decisions.
Woodland Hills 25, Chatsworth 12: The day’s wildest game featured 30 hits, 12 errors, 14 walks and 9 pitchers as Woodland Hills eliminated Chatsworth from the tournament at Pierce College. Woodland Hills batted around in two different innings in a game shortened to eight innings because of the 10-run rule.
Adam Schulhofer led Woodland Hills’ 22-hit attack with a perfect day--five hits and two walks in seven at-bats, including a three-run home run. Ray Sabado had four hits and drove in seven runs, and Aaron Marks had three hits and scored four times.
Lance Gibson, one of four Woodland Hills pitchers, gained the victory. John Haselbusch, one of five Chatsworth pitchers, took the loss.
Woodland Hills (17-6) plays Granada Hills (16-7) today in a game that has been rescheduled for 3 p.m. at Pierce. Chatsworth finishes the season at 16-7.
Granada Hills 12, Encino-Tarzana 6: One day after being shut out on two hits, Granada Hills pounded out 14 hits at Pierce to stay alive in the tournament.
Designated-hitter Brian Roth led the assault with four hits and knocked in five runs. Pitcher Jason Farrell got off to a shaky start but settled down, recording a complete game victory. Farrell (4-1) allowed nine hits, struck out eight, walked two and hit two batters.
Losing pitcher Mike Sulprizio allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits in four innings. Ernie Perez had four hits, including two triples, and had two RBIs for Encino-Tarzana (16-7), which was eliminated from the tournament.
