HS BASE: Wiley keys Crespi win over N.D. for Mission title
With the Mission League baseball title on the line in extra innings in front of an overflow crowd of about 700, Crespi High of Encino's Zack Wiley swears there were no jitters as he stepped to bat with a chance to knock in the winning run.
"I don't get nervous. I was actually pumped," Wiley said. "I was pretty calm and was actually laughing because we were joking around."
What's to be nervous about, anyway? Wiley pulled a curveball from David Armendariz into left field for a clean single, and Jeremy Rodriguez raced home from second for the winning run in a 6-5 eight-inning victory over arch-rival Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks at L.A. Valley College.
The win, Crespi's eighth in a row, propelled the defending league-champion Celts (22-5, 11-1) to their third league title over the past five years.
gerry.gittelson@dailynews.com