Hawthorne Wins Last Playoff Berth

Sophomore Armando Fernandez’s two-out, two-run triple in the sixth inning snapped a 5-5 tie and propelled visiting Hawthorne High past Santa Monica, 9-5, in a playoff Saturday for third place in the Ocean League baseball race.

In a do-or-die situation for the league’s final berth in the CIF-Southern Section 5-A playoffs, Hawthorne (16-12) took advantage of three Santa Monica errors to score four runs in the sixth and erase a 5-4 deficit.

The Cougars, who finished in a four-way tie for the Ocean title Thursday, went ahead for good when Fernandez tripled in two runs and scored on a throwing error by Santa Monica second baseman Ty Miller to make it 8-5. Hawthorne added a run in the seventh.

It was the fourth game this week for both teams. In playoffs Friday, Hawthorne lost to Palos Verdes, 12-4, and Santa Monica was beaten by Beverly Hills, 3-1. Beverly Hills enters the playoffs as the league’s No. 1 representative, and Palos Verdes is No. 2.

The playoff pairings will be announced Monday at the Southern Section office.