No. 1 Sherman Oaks Notre Dame clinches Mission League baseball title

Tom Dill, the baseball coach at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame for 26 seasons and a winner of more than 500 games, is as old school as they get. He’s one of the few who isn’t running a travel ball team these days to make money and attract players. He’s helped develop such professional players as Giancarlo Stanton and Hunter Greene. Most important to him is helping his players become good adults.

This season, the No. 1-ranked Knights (23-2) are not only good on the field but good in the clubhouse. They trust each other. When someone is down, another steps forward to offer support.

With one week to go in the regular season, the Knights have proven to be the best in Southern California and likely No. 1 seed for the Division 1 playoffs. They clinched their second consecutive Mission League title Friday night with a 5-4 victory over Loyola at home. Ryan Limerick contributed a two-run double to wipe out a 2-0 deficit in the fourth inning and ignite the Knights, who won the Boras Classic last week and conclude the regular season next week with a three-game series against St. Francis.

Loyola received two-run home runs from Augie Lopez and James Dell’Amico. Erik Puodziunas threw two scoreless innings of relief and struck out five for Notre Dame. Dean West and Colin Brown each had two hits.

Crespi 4, St. Francis 3: The Celts completed a three-game sweep of St. Francis and set up a showdown with Harvard-Westlake to decide second place in the Mission League next week. Diego Velasquez had two hits. Tyler Walton struck out six in 5 2/3 innings of relief.

Chaminade 6, Sierra Canyon 3: Nolan Mowry homered and Isaac Hearn had three hits to lead the Eagles.

Harvard-Westlake 7, Bishop Alemany 5: Jack Kelman and Thomas Leib had three hits for the Wolverines, who have won 10 consecutive games.

Granada Hills 3, El Camino Real 1: Andrew Cuervo threw a complete game and Miles Ortiz had two RBIs for Granada Hills.

Birmingham 1, Cleveland 0: JB Dalumpines had the walk-off hit to make a winner of Kaden Taque, who came through with his third consecutive impressive pitching performance, striking out 14 while giving up three hits.

Taft 7, Chatsworth 5: The Toreadors picked up the West Valley League win.

Sun Valley Poly 2, North Hollywood 1: The Parrots improved to 8-0 in the East Valley League. Uriel Reyes struck out eight and also had two hits and two RBIs.

Orange Lutheran 5, St. John Bosco 3: The Lancers completed a three-game sweep of the Braves and set up a three-game showdown with JSerra for next week to decide a Trinity League playoff berth. Casey Borba had two hits.

JSerra 8, Servite 5: The Lions moved into a three-way for second place in the Trinity League with Orange Lutheran and Mater Dei with three games to play. Dominic Smaldino hit a home run and had five RBIs.

Santa Margarita 11, Mater Dei 2: Blake Wilson had three hits and four RBIs to help the Eagles clinch the Trinity League championship. Wilson, Zach Fjelstad and Luke Lavin all hit home runs.

Campbell Hall 10, Windward 0: Tanner McMahon threw five scoreless innings and also had two hits to help the Vikings (17-2-1) clinch the Gold Coast League championship.

Huntington Beach 4, Fountain Valley 2: The Oilers rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh to win, aided by a three-run home run from Aidan Espinoza.

Bishop Amat 8, Gardena Serra 1: Jordan Pasillas had two hits and three RBIs for Bishop Amat, which is 9-0 in the Del Rey League.

Long Beach Poly 4, Long Beach Wilson 3: The Jackrabbits rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh, winning on a walk-off double from Max Pemberton.

Damien 4, Rancho Cucamonga 2: The Spartans improved to 11-0 in the Baseline League. Tyler Daley contributed three hits and Andrew Carter had two RBIs.

Etiwanda 5, Los Osos 2: Anthony Huezo finished with three hits and Nicholas Neri threw a complete game to help the Eagles prepare for a three-game showdown with Damien next week.

Agoura 7, Newbury Park 3: The Chargers came away with a two-game sweep of Newbury Park. Myles Kallinger, Luka Bladow, Michael Moran, Jack Burke and Jack Gewert each had two hits.

Westlake 8, Calabasas 5: Dillon Marrisett, Nate Franco, Kaden Youmans and Ethan Bolger each had two hits for Westlake.

Crescenta Valley 8, Burroughs 1: The Falcons set up a two-game showdown with Arcadia to decide the Pacific League title. Connor Campbell improved to 9-2.

Burbank 9, Arcadia 2: The Bulldogs handed Arcadia its first Pacific League defeat.

Edison 4, Newport Harbor 0: Zack Marker struck out 11, walked none and gave up six hits for Edison.

El Dorado 7, Villa Park 6: The Golden Hawks rallied from a 6-0 deficit. Isaac Cadena had a home run and four RBIs.

Garden Grove Pacifica 2, La Palma Kennedy 0: Logan Brady threw the shutout and Chad Gurnea had two hits for Pacifica (20-2).

Simi Valley 5, Camarillo 0: Matthew Cuccias struck out nine for Simi Valley.

La Serna 7, El Rancho 0: Nick Williams struck out 12 to help La Serna clinch the Del Rio League title.

Softball

Orange Lutheran 1, Rosary 0: Brianne Weiss struck out seven, walked none and gave up four hits as Orange Lutheran clinched the Trinity League title. Tessa Jerue had three hits.

El Camino Real 10, Taft 0: Sarah Delgado threw a no-hitter and Nerissa Winokur had three hits.

Granada Hills 2, Birmingham 0: The Highlanders took control of the West Valley League as both pitchers finished with one-hitters. Addison Moorman struck out 15 for Granada Hills. Ella Ludden of Birmingham struck out 10 and walked 10.

Los Alamitos 3, Garden Grove Pacifica 0: Berkley Vance threw the shutout.