American Legion Baseball : Sun Valley Pair Cook Up Another Win

Sun Valley right-handers Eddie Chavez and Mario Gomez have concocted a winning recipe.

Gomez starts and goes as long as he can, then Chavez comes in and saves the game. If it sounds like Gomez probably owes Chavez a dinner or two, he does.

“I don’t know if they look at it quite like that,” Coach Les Riley said. “But I could see how Gomez might owe Eddie a favor or two.”

He might owe Riley a little something as well, such as a good bromo. Gomez recorded his third save of the year in Sun Valley’s 4-3 win over Woodland Hills (East) in a District 20 game at Taft High on Wednesday.

All three times he has salvaged a win for Gomez, but it usually is not easy.

“It’s pretty basic. There’s no real design or anything,” Riley said. “Mario goes as long as he can and Eddie comes in and throws hard.”

Chavez relieved Gomez (4-1) in the seventh inning with one on, nobody out and Sun Valley (8-11) holding a 4-2 lead. He walked Mike Borzello, retired Glen Nahmias on a popup and walked Tom Glassman to load the bases.

Chavez continued to walk the tightrope as he struck out Adam Zutler for the second out before hitting Benjie Belfield to force in a run and cut the lead to 4-3. Chavez, however, retired Chris Ingelhart on a grounder to short to end the game.

The seventh-inning traffic jam on the bases was no rarity for Woodland Hills (7-10); the team stranded 10 baserunners.

Borzello was 2 for 3 with a double and a triple and Glen Hansen was 2 for 2 with two runs batted in for Woodland Hills.

Right-hander Chris Brown (3-3) threw a seven-hitter, striking out four and walking two, but took the loss.

Woodland Hills (West) 4, Glendale 2--Dan McAdoo was 3 for 4 with a single, double and triple to lead Woodland Hills (West) (18-2) to its 16th consecutive win. Bryce Welch was 2 for 3 with two RBIs, including a home run in the fourth, his eighth.

Pat Treend threw a three-hitter over 6 innings before Lance Gibson relieved him in the seventh. Treend (2-0) struck out four and benefited from four double plays.

Studio City 7, North Hollywood 6--North Hollywood scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh and had the tying and winning runs on second and third, but right-hander Nino Romo retired Mike Buch on a called third strike to earn the save. Buch had led off the inning with a triple.

Two errors contributed to a Studio City rally in the third when six unearned runs were scored off right-hander Danny Spector (1-1), all with two out.

Spector was 2 for 2 and Duane Braxton 2 for 4 for North Hollywood (6-11). Bruce Gomez was 2 for 4 for Studio City.

Valley (Encino-Tarzana) 7, Newhall-Saugus (Santa Clarita) 2--Right-hander David Grisar threw a five-hitter, struck out nine and walked five to lead Valley to its second win in 19 games.

John Latuperissa was 2 for 2 with an RBI for Newhall-Saugus (SC), which fell to 4-16.

Encino-Crespi 7, West Hills 1--Encino-Crespi (13-6) used five pitchers in a three-hit win.

John Dempsey and Scott Barton each were 2 for 3 with an RBI. Encino-Crespi allowed only three baserunners after the first inning.

Mark Kurtz (3-1) pitched the second and third innings to pick up the win. He was relieved by Chad Nichols in the fourth, Dan Carroll in the sixth and Dempsey in the seventh.

Reseda-Cleveland 5, Granada Hills 4--Reseda-Cleveland scored four runs in the first inning on five hits.

Kirk Surabian threw a seven-hitter, struck out three and walked three for Reseda-Cleveland.