3-A Baseball Playoffs

In other 3-A quarterfinal games:

Helix 3, Granite Hills 1--Damon Luban struck out six and earned the victory for Helix. And his move to first base was even better than his move to the plate: Luban picked three Granite Hills baserunners off first. The most important pickoff was in the third; Luban picked off John Brown, and two batters later, Paul Runge hit a bases-empty run for Granite Hills (15-11). Tory Winrow was 3 for 4 for Helix (24-2), and he made a leaping catch of a ball in the fifth to start a double play.

Santana 8, Madison 0--Jeff Matranga pitched a four-hitter, and visiting Santana scored six runs in the first two innings to earn a spot in the section semifinals for the third consecutive year. Santana (22-7) will play Grossmont Saturday. Darrin Forster gave Santana a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the first, and the Sultans took advantage of three Madison errors in a four-run second. Paul Newark hit a bases-empty home run in the third to give Santana a 7-0 lead. Madison, the No. 2 seed, finished 24-4.

Grossmont 5, Poway 4--Greg Layson’s two-run homer helped visiting Grossmont (19-9) gain a 5-0 lead, and starting pitcher Mark Gapski barely held it. Gapski allowed 10 hits and the potential tying run to reach second base in the seventh but retired Kevin Magruder on a pop-up to first base for the final out. Poway committed two errors in allowing three runs in the third. Bill Bertsch and Greg Sorrell each had two hits for Poway (16-8).