Cleveland Cavaliers defeat Marshall Barristers, 3-1, in semifinal

It has been 31 years since a teenage Bret Saberhagen pitched and hit Reseda Cleveland to a City Section baseball championship. Jack Hartman is turning in Saberhagen-like performances in the Division I playoffs.

After throwing a no-hitter in the quarterfinals, Hartman threw two scoreless innings of relief Wednesday and had a run-scoring double and a home run to help the Cavaliers defeat Marshall, 3-1, in a semifinal game at USC’s Dedeaux Field.

“He comes up big every time,� Coach Greg Venger said.

Cleveland (24-10), seeded No. 2, will meet No. 1 San Fernando (32-3) in Saturday’s 1 p.m. championship game at Dodger Stadium. San Fernando defeated Banning, 8-4.

A San Fernando Valley team is guaranteed to win the championship for the 40th time in the last 41 seasons.

Steven Perez threw the first five innings for Cleveland, which had trouble breaking the game open against Marshall’s Angel Lerma, who retired nine consecutive batters at one point. Hartman was called upon in the sixth in a 2-1 game, and real drama ensued.

After a strikeout, there was a hit batter, catcher’s interference and another hit batter to load the bases. The Barristers (17-10) thought they had the left-handed Hartman (12-1, 0.35 ERA) on the ropes. But he proceeded to record consecutive strikeouts, the last on a 3-and-2 count with a called third strike. End of rally and pretty much end of game.

“Once the bases were loaded, I just had to kind of start over and throw strikes,� he said.

Then, in the bottom of the sixth, Hartman hit a ball that struck the scoreboard in right field for a home run.

“I was just trying to clear my mind because the whole inning before was really stressful,� he said.

He threw 49 pitches and has eight innings of pitching eligibility left for Saturday’s final.

In the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader, Carlos Robles had three hits and three RBIs, Jose Haros had three hits and Roberto Ramos added two hits and two RBIs to spark the Tigers past Banning.

Alonzo Garcia (11-2) threw a complete game, striking out six.

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