Birmingham wins City Section Division I boys' soccer title

Bedlam erupted after Birmingham's 2-0 City Division I soccer win over El Camino Real, with players having to be separated.

Columnist

Published Feb. 24, 2024 Updated Feb. 25, 2024 11:31 AM PT

Two longtime City Section soccer rivals, Birmingham and El Camino Real, engaged in a tense game on Saturday night at Valley College to decide the Division I championship. Immediately after the officials blew the whistle, ending a 2-0 victory by Birmingham, bedlam ensued.

Birmingham players charged onto the field to celebrate. An El Camino Real player tackled a Birmingham player. Adults, coaches and administrators started trying to separate players amid pushing, shoving and some fighting. An official awards ceremony never took place. This happened in front of City Section commissioner Vicky Lagos. The two schools confirmed Sunday morning that the City Section pulled each team from consideration for this week’s Southern California regionals.

Carlos Ruano (10) of Birmingham celebrates after Adrian Diaz scores on a penalty kick in second half vs. ECR.

Players know each other well. Some are on the same club teams and consider themselves friends. Since 2020, they’ve meet four times in the final, with Birmingham winning three times, including back-to-back titles. There also have been incidents during the time of former Birmingham coach EB Madha, who was replaced this season by assistant Gus Villalobos.

“It’s kind of sad to see,” Villalobos said. “With my players, I was a little frustrated with them. For El Camino Real, I’ve been there. It’s hard to take it knowing you’re losing to Birmingham. It definitely got out of hand. I’m letting everything process.”

Moving forward the two charter schools are going to face increased scrutiny on how to handle the soccer rivalry. “In the future, when they play, when the game ends, there’s going to be nothing else, go to the sideline until this all settles down,” Birmingham athletic director Rick Prizant said.

Here’s the regional soccer pairings released on Sunday.

Servite 3, Orange Lutheran 1: The Friars won the Southern Section Division 1 championship behind goals from Luke Williams, Korey Villanueva and Nicholas Nodarse.

Girls’ soccer

Estancia 2, Campbell Hall 0: Estancia took the Division 5 title.

Baseball

La Salle 6, Bonita 3: David Mysza had a two-run single to help unbeaten La Salle win the Pizza Chalet tournament. AC Nieto also had two RBIs.

San Fernando 4, Taft 1: Ray Pelayo struck out eight in five innings for San Fernando.

West Ranch 7, Oaks Christian 5: Ashton Tsukashima had a walk-off two-run home run for West Ranch in the eighth inning.

Hart 6, Sierra Canyon 3: Brayden Jefferis had two hits, two RBIs and three stolen bases for Hart.

Carson 6, Wiseburn Da-Vinci 1: Ryan Camacho had two hits for Carson (3-0).

Sylmar 5, Providence 1: Luis Mendoza struck out 10 in five innings.

Santa Monica 4, Hamilton 0: Jackson Klein struck out 12 with two walks in throwing a no-hitter.

Royal 7, Saugus 4: Dean Barkman threw four scoreless innings for Royal.

Beckman 5, Brea Olinda 2: Isaiah Kapur had two hits for Beckman.

Westlake 4, Bell 1: The Warriors stayed unbeaten behind Andrew Habermann, who struck out seven in five scoreless innings.

Valencia 7, Moorpark 6: A bases-loaded walk gave Valencia a walk-off victory. Will Verlaque had a home run and single for Valencia.

Chatsworth 2, Simi Valley 1: Freshman Masen Ruiz struck out four and did not give up a run in four innings.

Estancia 2, Brentwood 0: Andrew Mits threw a complete game with nine strikeouts for Estancia (6-0).

St. John Bosco 9, Mission Viejo 4: The Braves (4-0) received three hits from Jaden Jackson.

Bishop Amat 5, Crescenta Valley 0: Miguel Perez contributed four RBIs for Bishop Amat.

Corona Centennial 11, Roosevelt 3: Matthew Bernath finished with three hits and three RBIs for 5-0 Centennial. Ryder Dykstra had four RBIs. Espn Simpson struck out six and did not give up a hit in five innings.

Maranatha 6, San Luis Obispo 1: Andrew Miller threw four scoreless innings and AJ Beltre contributed a triple and two RBIs.

Harvard-Westlake 4, Flower Mound (Texas) Marcus 2: Tuning up for the start of Mission League play, the Wolverines improved to 4-1.

Fullerton 4, Aliso Niguel 1: Zach Fany went three for four and Eddie Avitia threw a complete game for Fullerton.

San Clemente 6, Palm Desert 0: Mike Erspamer threw a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts.

Servite 5, Arlington 3: The Friars won the Loara tournament championship. Miles Scott struck out five in 3 1/3 innings. Hayden Woodson was named tourney MVP.

Yucaipa 1, Fountain Valley 0: Mario Gonzalez threw a two-hit shutout.