As center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs becomes the talk of major league baseball with his defense, junior center fielder James Tronstein of Harvard-Westlake remembers the time when he was a freshman and Crow-Armstrong stopped by to offer some tips.
“Looking at him as an alumnus, I learn from him,” Tronstein said.
Tronstein, a Stanford commit, did his best imitation of Crow-Armstrong with one out in the seventh inning Tuesday, chasing down a deep fly ball hit by Landon Hodge and making the catch crashing into the fence to help the Wolverines defeat Crespi 2-1 and pull into a first-place tie in the Mission League.
“I was relieved James caught it,” said sophomore pitcher Justin Kirchner (7-0), who then struck out Diego Velazquez to finish with a complete game. “I was never able to play with Pete, but James is pretty good.”
Sophomore Justin Kirchner (7-0) threw a complete game in Harvard-Westlake’s 2-1 win over Crespi.
(Craig Weston)
Harvard-Westlake (17-7, 11-2) became the first team to defeat pitcher Jackson Eisenhauer (7-1), who gave up two unearned runs in the third inning. Drew Rico started the inning with a double. Tronstein put down a bunt single that resulted in a throwing error to push across one run and Jake Kim drove in Tronstein with a bloop single.
Crespi got a sacrifice fly in the sixth from Justin Weiss for its run. Then came the seventh. Pinch-hitter Tyler Walton singled. After a force out at second, Hodge, an LSU commit, hit the ball to deep left center. Tronstein got a good jump and made the catch. “The wall may not be OK,” Tronstein said.
Crespi (18-2, 11-2) and Harvard-Westlake play again on Wednesday at Hartunian Field, then back to O’Malley Field on Friday in what is the “parking lot Mission League championship series” (the fields are separated by less than 100 yards in Encino).
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 6, Loyola 2: Jacob Madrid had two hits and three RBIs for the Knights battling for a Mission League playoff spot.
St. Francis 5, Sierra Canyon 3: Noah Aguilar-Tanphanich threw a complete game for St. Francis.
Chaminade 5, Bishop Alemany 1: Isaiah Hearn had three hits and Jackson Schroeder gave up one hit in six innings for the Eagles.
St. John Bosco 6, JSerra 1: Moises Razo had two hits and two RBIs and Trevor Heishman struck out seven in six innings.
Servite 11, Santa Margarita 4: Miles Scott had three hits and Hayden Woodson had a two-run double for the Friars. Austin Boatwright had three RBIs.
Los Alamitos 6, Fountain Valley 2: Tristin Dalzell struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings.
Huntington Beach 18, Edison 1: Jared Grindlinger had two doubles and two RBIs and Jayton Greer had three hits and three RBIs for the Oilers.
Corona 5, Roosevelt 0: Ethin Bingaman struck out 11 and threw a two-hitter for Corona’s 14th shutout of the season.
Calabasas 9, Thousand Oaks 8: Jack Quirk had the walk-off RBI single to help the Coyotes’ playoff chances out of the Marmonte League.
Newbury Park 8, Oaks Christian 7: Nathaniel Nunez had a walk-off single in the eighth inning for Newbury Park to cap a three-run inning. Chad Rolison had two hits and three RBIs for Oaks Christian.
Westlake 10, Agoura 2: Noah Stead had a grand slam for Westlake.
Ayala 7, Bonita 4: Landen Lambert had a three-run home run for Bonita.
Santa Monica 4, Culver City 1: Jaxson Ehlers had two hits and two RBIs to help Santa Monica in a battle for first place in the Ocean League. Blake Hunter went three for three.
Softball
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 10, Sierra Canyon 0: Aliyah Garcia threw the shutout to keep Notre Dame unbeaten in the Mission League. Ellayne Tellez-Perez had two hits and two RBIs.
Orange Lutheran 2, JSerra 1: Cate Medvitz had the walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh to help the Lancers rally from a 1-0 deficit.
Norco 6, King 3: Sasha Pham had four RBIs for Norco in a Big VIII League win.