Birmingham baseball coach Matt Mowry doesn't care about the West Valley League championship. His focus is on the City title, which he has won five times so far. His team has never won a league title. That may change this season, as the Patriots improved to 2-0 with a 6-5 win over El Camino Real in league play on Friday. Prior to this, the Patriots defeated defending league champion Granada Hills.
Pitcher Mike Figueroa made a big difference in both games. He pitched 4 1/3 innings Friday and allowed two earned runs.
Carlos Esparza had two hits and two RBIs, taking the mound as a short relief pitcher in the fifth inning. Danny Martinez pitched one scoreless inning in relief. Brandon McClure had two hits and two RBIs for El Camino Real.
Cleveland 4, Chatsworth 3: The Cavaliers survived a three-run rally by Chatsworth in the bottom of the seventh inning. For Cleveland, Quinton and Kayden Rieple each had two hits.
Granada Hills 10, Taft 5: Alex Schmidt had three RBIs for the Highlanders.
Marina 2, Huntington Beach 0: Junior Nick Murray pitched a no-hitter in 6 1/3 innings. He finished with six strikeouts and three walks.
Los Alamitos 5, Laguna Beach 2: At Los Alamitos, Tristan Dalzell had nine strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.
Newport Harbor 5, Edison 4: Adam Martin hit a walk-off home run for Newport Harbor in the eighth inning.
La Salle 3, Paraclete 0: For La Salle, Christopher Cardenas hit two home runs and Morgan Sullivan pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings.
Arcadia 10, Hoover 0: For Arcadia, Nando Palencia had 10 strikeouts in four innings.
Foothill 6, Eldorado 2: Jack Mueller hit a two-run home run and Ezequiel Vargas had two hits and two RBIs for Foothill.
Loyola 6, Girl 4: For the Cubs, Luca Marucci had four RBIs, and James DelAmico and Augie Lopez each had three hits.
Rancho Cucamonga 6, Etiwanda 2: Jacob Payton finished with three hits for Rancho Cucamonga.
Cypress 10, Tustin 4: For Cypress, Jake Delaquil had three RBIs.
Maranatha 8, Christian Village 1: Zach Strickland had six strikeouts in five innings, and AJ Beltre had three hits.
Northwood 3, Beckman 2: Paul Grossman had eight strikeouts in five scoreless innings for Northwood.
Chaminade 5, Kazekami 1: The Eagles (9-3) got three hits from Vinny van der Wel.
Heart 9, Crespi 2: Brayden Jefferies, Ryan De La Maza and Lincoln Daley each had two hits for Hart.
Ayala 8, Glendora 2: Matthew Yark hit a home run and a single for Ayala.
Camarillo 4, Simi Valley 1: Trotter Enright led Camarillo with two doubles and a single. Nick Tostado pitched a complete game for the Scorpions.
Saugas 3, Valencia 2: The Centurions scored two runs in the bottom of the 10th inning. Dominic Zambrano had three hits for Saugus.
soft ball
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 11, Chatsworth 1: Sophomore Aliyah Garcia went 4-for-4 and sophomore Nadia Leadon led the way with two home runs.
Norco 13, Corona 100th Anniversary 2: Ariel Reyes, Kayleigh Cook and Maddie Aguilera each had two hits for Norco, which improved to 9-2.
Whittier Christian 11, Mary Starr 2: Alina Garcia, who contributed to UCLA, had three home runs and six RBIs.
