Notre Dame's `good energy' helps it get sweep
ENCINO >> Notre Dame baseball won its third game in as many days Friday, completing a Mission League sweep of Harvard-Westlake with a 9-4 victory at O'Malley Family Field.
Rescheduling due to rain forced the three league games to be played on consecutive days — Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. That didn't keep the Knights from putting up six runs in the third inning and holding off the Wolverines for the rest of the game.
“Our pitching staff was a big contributor to shut these guys down, especially after they jumped out to a pretty good lead on us,” said Notre Dame coach Tom Dill, whose team moved up to No. 1 in this week's CIF-SS Division 1 poll.
It is the first time Harvard-Westlake (7-6 overall, 4-4 Mission League) has been swept by a Mission League opponent since the league began its three-game series system in 2016.
“We're all disappointed. We're a little frustrated in how we played, rightfully so,” Harvard-Westlake coach Jared Halpert said. “I haven't been here yet. I don't know what exactly is the right way to feel or the approach to look at this, but we're going to do everything we can to get better for the next week.”
Levi Sterling pitched the final five innings for Notre Dame (11-1, 8-1) and gave up three hits and no runs while recording five strikeouts. At the plate, he had an RBI single.
Wolverines pitcher Bryce Rainer went 1-2-3 in the first inning, then got on base with a leadoff single in the bottom of the frame. Will Gasparino singled after that and Harvard-Westlake scored two unearned runs for an early lead.
Rainer, a junior, singled later in the game and was walked twice while pitching 2 2/3 innings.
“You could argue that Bryce is one of the most steadfast guys in the country.” Halpert said. “He's one of the most talented players I've had my eyes on.”
Notre Dame's Greg Pierantoni (3 for 4) hit an RBI double down the third base line and Wilson Henze had an RBI single to tie things up, 2-2, in the top of the second inning.
Harvard-Westlake pulled ahead again in the bottom of the second with RBI singles from Owen Carlson and Thomas Lieb.
The Knights went through the entire batting order in the third inning for an 8-4 advantage. Adam Shlesinger had an RBI double, then Sterling and Pierantoni
each hit RBI singles. Kal Gonzaga finished off the scoring by driving in Pierantoni and Henze with a single.
“It was just good energy,” Pierantoni said. “I think our dugout stayed in it the whole series, especially today. We were ready.”
Notre Dame tacked on an unearned run in the seventh inning.
The Wolverines are still working in seniors Duncan Marston and Davis White, who are coming off of injuries that kept them out for roughly a year. Marston pitched the final third of the game Friday and gave up one hit.
“For both of them to come out and perform at the level that they did, I'm really happy for those two kids,” Halpert said. “They put in a lot of time and effort to get back to help their team.”
Harvard-Westlake's next game is Tuesday as it begins a three-game league series against Chaminade. Notre Dame will play a threegame league series next week against Sierra Canyon with the first game Tuesday.
Jackson Banuelos threw a complete game with seven strikeouts. Mikey Murr was 1 for 4 with two RBIs. BIRMINGHAM 2 >> Gavin Taylor hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning. Daniel Flores pitched a complete game for the Patriots with six strikeouts.
The Highlanders move to 2-0 in the West Valley League.
Omar Cisneros and Ethan Munoz each had two hits.
Brayden Jefferis was 4 for 4 with an RBI for Hart.
Jack Truszkowski-Young earned the win from the mound. Diego Velasquez had two hits and two RBIs.
Jordan Kingston earned the win with 4 1/3 innings of work. He allowed one hit.
Logan Reddemann pitched a complete game shutout, allowed two hits and struck out nine.
Josh Habell earned the win for the Warriors. James Quintero went 3 for 3 with two RBIs, and Jayden Lusk earned the save.