Whittier High School baseball team celebrates after getting the final out with the base loaded of Santa Fe runners. Whittier won 2-1 against Santa Fe High baseball team at Santa Fe Springs Friday April 29, 2016.(Photo by Walt Mancini/Pasadena Star-News)

BASEBALL
DEL RIO LEAGUE
WHITTIER 2, SANTA FE 1

SANTA FE SPRINGS >> Whittier High School could have pouted after losing to Santa Fe on Wednesday.
Instead, the Cardinals got mad, and they are back in the Del Rio League baseball race because of it.
Nick Viramontes and AJ Esquivel combined on a five-hitter Friday and Whittier pulled into a first-place tie with the Chiefs and California with a 2-1 victory at Santa Fe High School.
Christian Soto had two hits for the Cardinals, who improved to 11-15 overall and 7-4 in league play. Santa Fe slipped to 12-13 and 7-4. California, which beat La Serna, 1-0, on a shutout with nine strikeouts by Jakob Farmer, is 13-9 and 7-4.
The three have completed their season series against each other.
Whittier earned it’s spot after rebounding from a 9-1 setback to Santa Fe on Wednesday.
Santa Fe was denied Friday after loading the bases twice with less than two outs during the final three innings, including in the seventh.
But Esquivel, who gave up a pop single after replacing Viramontes with one out and runners on first and second in the seventh, saved the day. He struck out Luis Aguilar before inducing Robert Lucia to ground out to first get the victory.
Whittier coach Eric Ramirez: “I told the players the other day that you can get as much out of a loss as you can out of a win. At 9-1, we got a lot out of that loss. I told them see what champions do when they lose, and today we came up with some huge plays. It was a huge response for that.”
Whittier reliever: AJ Esquivel: “I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t know. I was a little nervous, but I had to get those guys out.”

If you have any scores or stats from any local high school sporting events call them into the desk at 626-544-0992 or 0991 or scores@SGVN

Softball
Schurr 14, San Gabriel 1 — Karen Roman was the winning pitcher and went 4 for 4 with two RBIs to lead the Spartans (15-4, 5-1) to the Almont League win. Schurr compiled 14 hits. Marissa Fernandez went 4 for 4 with an RBI and Jazmine Ayala went 2 for 2 with a triple and three RBIs.

Santa Fe plays California in their Del Rio League girls softball game at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe Springs on Thursday April 28, 2016. (Photo by Keith Durflinger/Whittier Daily News)

SOFTBALL
DEL RIO LEAGUE
CAL 12, SANTA FE 0

SANTA FE SPRINGS >> That showdown for first place in the Del Rio League never materialized on Thursday.
California, one of the hotter softball teams in the area, dominated from the start.
Justice Sharp had two RBIs and threw six shutout innings, and the Condors took advantage of five errors by host Santa Fe to score a 12-0 victory.
Sierra Rodriquez had three hits and Jaclyn Macias and Nautica Rivera had two RBIs each for California, which improved to 12-11 and 5-0 in league play. Sharp gave up five hits and struck out two.
Santa Fe, which had won five of six, slipped to 11-10 and 4-2.
Cal, which is at La Serna Friday, holds a two-game lead in the loss column over Santa Fe and La Serna with two weeks left in the season.
Cal jumped out early, taking a 3-0 lead in the first. Sarah Duran led off with a single before taking third base on a double by Marina Tamayo. Sharp then doubled to center field with two outs for a 2-0 lead. Rivera then followed with a single to right field for the three-run lead.
The Condors pushed it to 5-0 in the third on a walk, an error and a two-base throwing error. They blew it open in the seventh with seven runs, highlighted by a two-run home run by Skiela Martinez.
Cal coach Monica Robles: “It’s a big win. We are halfway in (league play) and are 5-0. It was a good win. Santa Fe only had one loss in league, so with this win, it put us over the edge. Now we’re at 5-0, so we’re doing good.”
Cal’s Justice Sharp: “It was important to get the win, because we want to go 10-0.”
— Stephen Ramirez

If you have any scores or stats from any local high school sporting events call them into the desk at 626-544-0992 or 0991 or scores@SGVN

Softball
Santa Fe 13, Pioneer 5 — Alexandria Andrade was the winning pitcher, Jeanelle Medina went 5 for 5 with a double and Alexxis Ponce went 3 for 4 for the Chiefs (11-9, 4-1) in a Del Rio League win. Samantha Mancillas had a triple for Santa Fe.

Boys volleyball
Whittier Christian 3, Maranatha 0 — Cade McGee had seven kills and four digs, Justin Osborn had six kills, three digs and five assists and Josh Sorely had four kills and two blocks for the Heralds (3-3) in a 25-21, 25-14, 25-19 Olympic League win.