Prep baseball roundup: Bishop Alemany uses home-field advantage to beat Westlake

It wasn’t exactly a good start Tuesday for Westlake baseball when its bus got stuck at the entrance to the Bishop Alemany Sports Complex. Apparently buses have been stuck in the same place before, so maybe a no buses sign should be put up.

Things only got worse, as Alemany’s home-court advantage showed itself again and again in a 9-6 victory in Division 2 of the Southern Section. There was swirling wind, so Alemany knowing how to play balls in the outfield, in the infield and at the plate led to a frustrating end to the season for Westlake.

There was a poorly played pop fly in the infield for Westlake. There was a home run by Alemany’s Maverick Cederline when he simply hit the ball in the air and hit a wind-powered home run over the center field fence. But the key play came in the fifth inning in what appeared to be a wild pitch with the bases loaded for Westlake.

Except catcher Brody Thompson of Alemany scooped it up on a short safety net and underhanded the ball to pitcher Ricky Gonzalez, who struck out the runner at home plate to end the threat.

“I can’t believe they sent the runner,” Alemany coach Randy Thompson said. “We couldn’t get Blake Miller out today. There are things we’re used to on the field. It was a weird day because the wind kept changing direction.”

Mikey Martinez of Alemany gets $20 from his grandmother every time he hits a home run. He wasn’t paid Tuesday, but he went three-for-four with two RBIs and did his best as a starting pitcher for only the second time this season, pitching three innings. Chase Stevenson had two hits and three RBIs, including a home run.

Westlake’s Blake Miller finished his high school career with four hits, including a home run. Jaxson Neckien added three hits. Chase Stevenson had two hits and three RBIs for Alemany.

Westlake got the tying run at the plate with two outs in the seventh when sidearmer Noah Barrientos got a strikeout to end the game.

Seven out of eight Mission League teams have made the South Section playoffs, and one way to eliminate them is to have Mission League teams play each other. That will happen Friday when Alemany hosts Loyola in the Division 2 quarterfinals. Loyola advanced with a 7-6 victory over another Mission League team, Chaminade. So there are only five mission teams left.

Loyola 7, Chaminade 6: Magnus Mayer won with a single in the bottom of the seventh of the D2 game. Wyatt Clougherty had three hits. Alejandro Villegas added two hits.

Corona 6, Corona Santiago 1: The Panthers advance to the Division 1 quarterfinals on Friday. Mason Sims struck out 12 and Anthony Murphy, Joseph Flores and Danny De La Torre each hit home runs. Corona will face Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

Norco 9, Ayala 2: Zion Martinez hit a homer and four RBIs to propel the Cougars to the Division 1 quarterfinals. They will face Orange Lutheran on Friday.

La Mirada 11, Huntington Beach 1: Jacob Oropeza threw 5 1/3 in relief on one hit to lead La Mirada to a D1 quarterfinal game against St. John Bosco Saturday at 11 a.m. Justin Torres hit a three-run homer.

Cypress 8, Sierra Canyon 0: Throws, throws and more throws. That’s what Cypress has, and it was Drew Slevcove who struck out 11 to set up a Division 1 quarterfinal clash with Harvard-Westlake on Friday. Tyler Vladic had four hits and freshman Ivan Ortiz had three hits.

Newport Harbor 4, Grand Chêne 1: Gavin Guy pitched a complete game with nine strikeouts in a Division 2 game.

Buttress 3, Servite 0: Caden Lauridsen, younger brother of USC pitcher Gavin Lauridsen, pitched a one-hit shutout in the Division 2 victory. Jaxon Foshay hit a home run.

Agoura 3, Garden Grove Pacifica 0: Freshman pitcher Zach Partee pitched the shutout and Tyler Starling drove in all three runs for the Division 3 Chargers.

Ganesha 5, South Hills 2: Logan Schmidt finished with four RBIs.

Dos Pueblos 10, Edison 7: Mattias Di Maggio had three hits, including a home run, to lead Dos Pueblos.

Yucaipa 17, Royale 2: Zach Scribner hit a three-run homer and finished with seven RBIs.

Saint Francis 5, Cajon 2: Bobby Milton and Jake Smith each finished with two hits.

Elsinore 6, Santa Margarita 4: The Eagles committed four errors and allowed five unearned runs in the Division 2 loss. Jacob Farias picked up the pitching victory. Andre Owens and Vincent Milo homered for Santa Margarita.

Moorpark 8, Monrovia 6: Tanner Stotts went four for four to lead Moorpark, including a home run.

Warren 11, Palos Verdes 1: Josue Evangelista had four hits for Warren.

Saugus 11, San Marino 10: Matt Carta had three and Abraham Ramirez for Saugus, which survived a five-run inning in the bottom of the seventh.

Mira Costa 6, Redondo Union 3: Kellan Finn hit a three-run triple for Mira Costa.