Leveque Is Witness for Crespi Defense

WOODLAND HILLS — That may have been Tim Leveque on the mound for Crespi High, but the 10-0 shutout he pitched against Highland in the first round of the Southern Section Division I baseball playoffs Friday at Pierce College belonged to the Celt defense.

Outstanding defensive plays by right fielder Christian Cardenas and center fielder Andy Campanella helped Leveque (8-1) out of a couple of jams.

The Celts (22-5-1) will play Palmdale on Tuesday in the second round at a site to be determined by a coin flip.

“My pitching wasn’t pretty,” Leveque said. “These guys made some great plays. This is a fun team to pitch for.”

The game ended because of the 10-run rule when Anthony Trejo hit a three-run home run to cap a seven-run fifth inning. Tim Mathews had a three-run triple two batters before Trejo.

But the game was really won in the first and third innings.

Highland loaded the bases in the first on singles by Jason Allec, Traviss Hodge and Jon Anello. Jason Kubel followed with a two-out line shot to the right-center field gap.

Cardenas, who got a quick jump on the sinking liner, dove to his right and snatched the ball just before it hit the ground.

In the third inning, with Hodge on first, John Santor hit a bloop single over second base. Campanella, charging full speed, picked up the ball and made a pinpoint throw to third to get Hodge.

Anello, the next batter, hit a rocket toward the right-field corner that Cardenas caught over his shoulder.

“That’s my job,” said Cardenas, who had a bunt single in the first inning, a sacrifice bunt in the second and a leadoff walk to start the fifth-inning rally. “I do the little things. The thing about this team is that we all understand our roles. The glory comes in the team winning.”

In the fourth, Highland (16-11) put runners at first and third with no one out. After Leveque struck out Shaun Gerstl, the Celts turned a third-to-second-to-home double play to get out of another jam.

“This could have been a different ballgame,” Highland Coach Mike Van Cheri said. “We got the hits to start the rally but couldn’t finish them. That kid in right field looked like Willie Mays. If that happens two or three times in a game it definitely takes some steam out of your sails.”

For the first four innings, the game was tight. Trejo led off the first with a double and scored on Luke Worgan’s single three batters later.

The Celts added two in the second inning on a run-scoring single by Campanella and a wild pitch.

Trejo had three hits, scored three runs and knocked in three runs. Mathews had two hits and three runs batted in.

Leveque allowed seven hits, struck out five and did not walk anyone over five innings..

Hodge (5-4) allowed nine hits, hit three batters and walked three. He threw 99 pitches, 37 in the fifth. Six of the seven runs in the inning were unearned because of shortstop J.P. Schmidt’s throwing error.