Woodland Hills West Rally Falls Short, 13-12

Woodland Hills West had the tying and winning runs on base in the ninth inning but lost to Valley Chatsworth, 13-12, on Friday night in a District 20 playoff game at Burroughs High.

Brian Somoza, who hit three two-run home runs for Woodland Hills West (20-8), hit into a game-ending double play.

Valley Chatsworth (27-2), the only team without a loss in the double-elimination tournament, opened a 12-2 lead after 5 1/2 innings.

Mike Kunes had four hits and five runs batted in for Valley Chatsworth.

Woodland Hills West, comprised of players from El Camino Real High--which has a history of beating Chatsworth--refused to give up. Woodland Hills West scored four runs in the ninth inning, keyed by a two-run single by Sean McElroy and a run-scoring single by Ryan Gunches.

Valley Chatsworth will play Encino Crespi tonight at 7 at Burroughs.

Encino Crespi 15, West Hills Chaminade 4--Jonathan Oller pushed Jeff Suppan out of the Encino Crespi record book in an elimination game called after seven innings because of the 10-run rule.

Oller drove in three runs with a two-run home run and a run-scoring double. His 50 RBIs eclipsed Suppan by two, and the home run was his 10th.

Dale Legaspi hit a run-scoring double and a run-scoring single for Encino Crespi (19-10).

Cody Haerther hit a run-scoring double and a single for West Hills Chaminade (21-7-1).

Van Nuys Notre Dame 13, Newhall Saugus Hart 0--Chris Dickerson hit a grand slam and Matt Cunningham had three hits and five RBIs for Van Nuys Notre Dame (26-3) in an elimination game at Birmingham High that was called after seven innings because of the 10-run rule.

Ryan Stonerock (5-0), Phil Polanco and Austin Bryant combined on a seven-hitter.

Jason Brown of Newhall Saugus Hart was chased after allowing five earned runs in one-third of an inning.