Second-Chance Villa Park Rises to Occasion

It was the Day of the Living Dead for the Villa Park High baseball team Saturday at Dodger Stadium.

The second-seeded Spartans posted a 5-1 victory over top-seeded West Torrance to capture their first Southern Section Division III championship only eight days after being eliminated in the quarterfinal round.

Villa Park (29-2) was given new life when Tustin, which defeated the Spartans, 7-1, had to forfeit the quarterfinal victory for using an ineligible player. Villa Park players were less than an hour away from turning in their uniforms for the season when they learned there was more baseball to be played.

The re-energized Spartans defeated Covina Charter Oak, 10-5, in a semifinal to reach the championship game.

“We got a lucky break,” Villa Park Coach Tom Tereschuk said after Saturday’s championship-game victory. “And sometimes you need that.”

Against West Torrance, Villa Park pitchers Dan Reid and Erik Averill combined on a three-hitter against the team ranked No. 2 in the nation by Baseball America magazine. And Jeff Tuttle punctuated the victory with a solo home run to right-center field in the seventh inning.

Scott Foley drove in two runs in the second inning to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead. Bryan Arguello followed with a single and scored on Scott Zine’s double down the right-field line to make it 3-0.

West Torrance’s starting pitcher, Michael Sutherland, was 12-0 with a 1.95 earned-run average entering the game but lasted only 1 2/3 innings. He gave up five hits and three runs.

Villa Park led, 4-0, when West Torrance (29-2) put runners on second and third in the fourth inning with two walks and a couple of wild pitches. Then Averill relieved Reid and retired the next two hitters on a strikeout and a fly ball to get out of the inning.

West Torrance scored its run in the sixth when Elliott Salcedo tripled off the wall in left-center and scored on Chris Caraballo’s sacrifice fly.

“Fate brought us here and gave us a second chance,” Averill said. “That was all we needed.”

Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley 10, Long Beach Wilson 1--Brad Davis drove in four runs and Frank McLaughlin struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings as Capistrano Valley won the Division I final at Dodger Stadium.

It is the first Division I title for Capistrano Valley (23-8), which won lower-division championships in 1983, ’87 and ’91.

Wilson (23-10), seeking its first title since 1950, lost in the final for the second consecutive year. Riverside Arlington defeated Wilson in 1999.

“Last year, when we lost at Edison Field, I never thought I’d have to see those expressions again,” Bruin second baseman Todd Marshall said. “But here we are one year later, with those same sad faces.”

Capistrano Valley took a 3-0 lead in the first inning against starter Taylor Draper. Justin Demere, Scott Cheo and Travis Becktel hit consecutive singles to load the bases for Kellan McConnell, who singled to center to drive in Demere. Davis followed with a two-run double down the left-field line.

Cheo’s two-run homer in the second inning gave Capistrano Valley a 6-0 lead.

Davis added his third and fourth RBIs in the sixth on a two-run bloop single.

Greg Wasick hit a home run for Wilson in the fourth.

Whittier California 8, Santa Barbara 0--Jack Toledo and Vincent Cordova combined on a one-hitter at Dodger Stadium as the Condors captured the Division II title in their first appearance in a section final.

Toledo struck out six, walked three and gave up one hit in four innings to earn the victory. Cordova pitched three perfect innings of relief, striking out six.

Billy Armenta and Arlie Kearney each drove in a run for California (26-3-1), which scored its six other runs thanks in no small part to seven errors by Santa Barbara (25-4).