Baseball: Riverside North advances to Division 1 final

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Playing solid defense while collecting 11 hits, Riverside North defeated Lakewood, 10-4, in a Southern Section Division 1 semifinal at Blair Field. North earns a championship trip to Dodger Stadium on Friday night at 7:30.

Lakewood, the Moore League champion, committed three errors and could never overcome falling behind, 5-0, in the first inning.

Adrian Anguiano had three hits for the Huskies (26-7), who shared the Big VIII League title and upset JSerra in the second round. Evan Perez had a two-run inside-the-park home run in the first inning. Steven Pena made two highlight defensive plays in the sixth inning with a diving catch and a running catch in center field.

Jack Johnson picked up the victory, holding Lakewood to six hits in six innings.

It’s been quite a turnaround for North, which was 4-24 in 2009 and 9-19 in 2010.

-- Eric Sondheimer