By Stephen Ramirez
MONTEBELLO >> Losses have become so rare for the Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary High School baseball team in recent seasons that most associated with the program can’t remember the last time it suffered three-consecutive setbacks.The Cardinals are still wondering after making sure Wednesday they wouldn’t experience an unwanted three-peat.Jared Thomas hit a leadoff home run and Mark Saavedra threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings to help CSHM end a two-game losing skein with a 5-0 victory over visiting Mary Star of the Sea in a Camino Real League game.Ruben Rios had two RBIs and Johnny Rodriguez and Zach Thomas had two hits each for the Cardinals (9-3, 3-0), who had lost consecutive nonleague games to Warren and Bonita.

“It was very big to get back on the winning track,” CSHM coach Rudy Garcia said. “We lost two and you never want to lose three in a row. This was a league game, so it made it even bigger. I was confident in the boys. It’s a good win for us.”
Jared Thomas, who was hitting .400 entering the game, gave CSHM the early lead when he hit Hunter Bjazevich’s first pitch over the right-field fence for a 1-0 advantage.
The Cardinals made it 2-0 in the inning following singles by Zach Thomas and Rios.
“I knew they were going to give me something to hit,” Jared Thomas said. “I just got on time and it went out.”
Zach Thomas led off the third with a double and scored on a squeeze bunt by Rios for 3-0 lead.
Saavedra took care of the rest.
The sophomore limited Mary Star (7-3, 1-2) to three hits and struck out five in his five-plus innings. He ran into some trouble in the fourth, but pitched his way out of it.
Carlos Vega led off with a single and Mo Magno was hit by a pitch. Both then stole third and second, respectively. But Saavedra induced Joe James to fly out to short right field before he sandwiched a walk to Nathan Trudnich with strikeouts of Kazenoshin Hayashi and Kevin Costa.
“(The mindset) was just to throw strikes,” Saavedra said. “I knew my defense had my back. They were making plays all game long, so I just had to throw strikes.”
CSHM scored a run in the fifth and sixth innings for a 5-0 advantage. Daniel Ordonez got the final four outs, including two strikeouts, to seal the win.
“In my two years here, we had never lost two games in row,” Jared Thomas said. “We’re not used to losing over here, so it was important to get back on track, play our game. We weren’t stressing. We knew we were going to be fine, and we played one of our better games.”

By Stephen Ramirez
Whittier Christian High School athletes Carl Hudson and Ben White made their college decisions Tuesday, each signing letter of intents in a ceremony at the La Habra school.
Hudson will play baseball at NAIA San Diego Christian and White will run cross country for Whittier College.
Hudson plays three positions for the Heralds, helping them to a 9-7 record this season. He has seen time at catcher, first base and in the outfield.
San Diego Christian (12-14, 7-11) competes in the Golden State Athletic Conference.
White was one of the top runners in the area last season, placing 30th in Division 5 at the CIF State championships in Fresno. He had a time of 16 minutes, 41.2 seconds. He was 13th at 15:50 at the CIF Southern Section finals.
Whittier College competes in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
CSHM DUO SIGN COLLEGE LETTERS
Alyssa Martin Del Campo and Cierra Amarillas-Salazar, key members of the Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary softball team made their college choices Wednesday, each signing with Benedictine University of Mesa, Arizona in a ceremony at the Montebello school.
CSHM is 5-6 this season.
PIONEER TO HOST ALUMNI BASEBALL GAME
Pioneer will host its alumni baseball game at 11 on Saturday.
Former Titan players are asked to call coach Bobby Ramirez at (951) 751-0080.
CIF-SS RANKINGS UPDATE
La Mirada, which was 9-2 heading into a Suburban League game at Artesia on Wednesday, is the lone area team in this week’s CIF-SS baseball rankings. The Matadores, who will compete in next month’s Boras Classic in Orange County, are No. 3 in Division 2.
La Habra, after losing to Valencia, dropped to No. 7 in the Division 1 softball rankings. Other area teams ranked are La Mirada and California, who are Nos. 7 and 8, respectively, in Division 3, and Schurr, which is No. 3 in Division 6.
Whittier Christian is No. 8 in Division 4 in boys volleyball.

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
Whittier Christian 2, Maranatha 1 — Freshman Jaden Hernandez had a game-winning RBI for the Heralds (8-6), who won their Olympic League opener. Ally Udell was the winning pitcher, striking out seven and had a double and an RBI. The Minutemen (9-1) lost their first game of the season.

Boys volleyball
Valley Christian 3, Whittier Christian 0 — Cade McGee had 12 kills and 14 digs and Justin Osborn had eight kills and 11 blocks for the Heralds (10-6, 2-1) in a 25-14, 25-20, 27-25 Olympic League loss.

By Stephen Ramirez
WHITTIER >> Baseball took a back seat for Whittier and Santa Fe high schools Friday.
The two area teams paid homage to fallen Whittier Police officer Keith Boyer, who died in the line of duty on Feb. 20, prior to their Del Rio League opener at Whittier High.
Whittier held a pregame ceremony, which included a moment of silence for Boyer, a presentation of a Cardinals team jersey to the Whittier Police Department and Whittier Police officer Damien Velasco throwing out the first pitch.
Santa Fe rallied for a 5-2 victory in the game. But that mattered little to first-year Whittier coach Larry Patino.

“Today was a tough baseball game,” Patino said. “(Santa Fe) was the better team today. But I go home with my hair standing up because I’m really excited. We didn’t just play the game of baseball.
“We acknowledged the great man in Keith Boyer and for what he did for our community. I believe at the end of the day when it all settles, it’s about life and good people like him.”
In the game, Santa Fe scored four runs in the fifth to rally for the victory. Chiefs pitcher Isaiah Gonzales had two hits and tossed a five-hitter with five strikeouts to help the Chiefs put a 1-7 start to the season behind them.
“What we do with the preseason schedule is to prepare us for games like this,” Santa Fe coach Pierre Romo said. “Whittier is a tough team. We know they are going to be tough, but the boys keep battling. We’ve taken our lumps and today we were rewarded.”
Whittier (4-7) got RBIs from Alex Andueza and Ian Fregoso. Benji Avila pitched four shutout innings before being replaced due to a pitch-count limit.

Santa Fe, after falling behind 2-0, got consecutive singles from Jorge Centeno, Sergio Medrano and Matthew Garcia to cut it to 2-1 in the fifth.
Ruben Romero then followed with a two-run single for a 3-2 lead. Romero scored on an error to push it to 4-2.
Raul Ramirez had a RBI fly in the sixth for a 5-2 advantage.
Gonzales, after giving up two doubles and a single in the third to fall behind 2-0, gave up just two hits and a walk over the final four innings to get the win.
“I left a couple pitches on the plate and they capitalized,” Gonzales said. “When I got in the dugout, Romo said I needed to start working down. We just stuck to the game plan against them.
“This boosts are confidence. Going 1-7 was tough, but what we have is our heart and we continue to battle.”

SANTA FE SPRINGS >> St. Paul High School didn’t win the Del Rey League softball title last season, The Swordsmen are hoping to change that in 2017.Thursday they took a step in that direction.Tatum Anzaldo hit a two-run home run and had three RBIs and St. Paul took the first advantage over rival Bishop Amat with a 6-1 victory in the league opener at Jersey Fields.
Nia Carter had three hits and scored three runs and Sydnee Krattenmaker had a two-run triple for the Swordsmen (3-1). Alexis Bermudez gave up seven hits and struck out three for her third victory. Bryanna Perez had three hits for the Lancers (2-7-1).

Anzaldo, after Bishop Amat cut it to 2-1 in fifth, had the big hit and turned the edge back to St. Paul. She drilled a line-drive to center field, which easily scored Carter for a 3-1 lead and she beat the throw home for the inside-the-park homer and a 4-1 advantage.
Krattenmaker all but sealed with a two-run triple to left-center field in the sixth for a 6-1 advantage.
Bermudez got in a little trouble in the sixth, but induced Alyssa Avalos to line into an inning-ending double play with runners on first and second.
Bermudez retired the Lancers in order in the seventh, ending the game by catching a line drive by Gabby Bracamonte.
St. Paul’s Tatum Anzaldo: “I think (what happened last season) is the biggest part of winning this game today. We want to take it (the Del Rey League title) back. We want what’s ours.”
Bishop Amat’s Bryanna Perez: “We just have to talk more,” Perez said. “We did our best; we’ll try to get them next time.”
— Stephen Ramirez