Prep Baseball : Okada Leads Palos Verdes to Win Over Hawthorne

Palos Verdes High School Coach Gil Eberhard is still wondering when Chuck Okada, his leadoff man and second baseman, is going to hit a cold streak.

But he’s hoping he won’t. It’s a happy form of anticipation.

Thursday afternoon, Okada sparked Palos Verdes to a 8-6 Bay League victory at Hawthorne with a home run, three runs batted in, and five sparkling defensive plays.

“Chuck is tearing it up right now,� Eberhard said. “I don’t know if he’ll stay that way, but hopefully if he goes cold we’ll have someone else who will get hot.�

Okada, who reached base nine consecutive times in the preseason, went into the game against Hawthorne with a .481 batting average.

He raised that mark in the third inning when he stroked a high fastball from Hawthorne starter Angel Fierro (2-1) the opposite way and onto the tennis courts behind the right-field fence. Okada’s blast scored Chris Heyn ahead of him and erased Hawthorne’s early 2-0 lead.

Okada drove in another run on a fielder’s choice in the next inning, then stole second and scored on the second of Doug Kay’s two doubles. He added another base hit--a sharp ground ball that ate up Hawthorne shortstop Robert Lujan--to sustain a Palos Verdes rally in the sixth.

“We’re awfully dangerous if we put the bat on the ball like we did today,� Eberhard said.

Maybe so, but Okada’s clutch defense played a big part as well. Okada went airborne four times to make the pivot on double plays, and ended three innings for Hawthorne in the process.

Still, Hawthorne was able to scrape out three runs to pull to within 8-6 in the sixth.

In the final inning, though, Okada was there with another great play to snuff out Hawthorne’s last-ditch rally. With one out, Hawthorne’s Randy Davidson reached first on an error by Palos Verdes right fielder Jason Goldberg.

Fierro, the next hitter, hit a flare to shallow right that looked as if it might drop in for extra bases. But Okada ranged to the outfield grass to haul it in with a sprawling, over-the-shoulder catch. Lujan grounded out to Okada on the next play to end the game.

Left-hander Josh Leichter (1-0) got the win in relief for Palos Verdes, which improved to 6-3 overall and 2-0 in the Bay League.

Left fielder Armando Fernandez led the Cougars (5-5, 0-2) at the plate with three hits, including an RBI double in the sixth.

Santa Monica 4, Torrance 0--Hot-hitting Torrance finally cooled off as right-hander Richard Armendariz pitched a six-hit shutout to lead host Santa Monica. Armendariz struck out five and walked only two.

Torrance dropped to 7-3 overall and 1-1 in the Bay League. Junior left-hander Kris Radcliffe took the loss for the Tartars despite striking out five and allowing only five hits. Only two of the runs allowed by Radcliffe were earned.

“Kris pitched well enough to win, but we didn’t get the timely hitting today like we have in the past,� Torrance Coach Jeff Phillips said. “We had base runners and opportunities, but their kid pitched a real good game. When he needed the outs, he got them.�

The key for Santa Monica was a single to center field that turned into a three-base error and allowed two runs to score.

Torrance was led by cleanup hitter Eric Gonzales, who went three for three with a double.

Rolling Hills, 8, Beverly Hills 3-The Titans, 13-1 losers to Beverly Hills on Tuesday, bounced back behind the pitching of Kirt Kishita en route to a Bay League victory at Rolling Hills.

Kishita, a junior right-hander, gave up five hits to earn his first win in four decisions. He struck out six and walked four.

Rolling Hills (3-5 overall, 1-1 in league play) took a 4-1 lead in the third inning on Steve Archibald’s three-run homer to center field. Archibald finished the day two for two with a pair of walks.

Tristan Paul was three for three for the Titans.

Banning 9, Dorsey 4-Lamont Dobbins, Sal Areyan and Raul Diaz combined for seven of the Pilots 10 hits in a Southern-Pacific Conference win at Banning.

Dobbins was three for four with two runs scored and an RBI, Areyan was two for four with a triple and two RBIs, and Diaz was two for four with a double.

Banning improved to 6-4 overall and 4-1 in the Pacific League to remain in first place. The Pilots committed five errors, leading to three unearned runs for Dorsey.

Washington 7, Gardena 3-The Mohicans mounted a late rally, scoring twice in the sixth inning and loading the bases with one out in the sixth, but it was not enough as they dropped a Southern Pacific Conference game at Washington.

Gardena (5-4, overall, 3-2 in the conference) made it 7-3 on a two-run homer by Alvin Thomas in the sixth and sent the potential tying run to the plate in the seventh but left the bases loaded.