PREP BASEBALL CITY FINALS : South Gate Defeats Crenshaw

For most of the season, South Gate High right-hander Richard Alcantar played an understudy role to Ram ace Alonso Lopez.

But Alcantar was at center stage Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, pitching a three-hitter as South Gate defeated Crenshaw, 9-5, for the CIF City Section 3-A Division baseball championship.

Alcantar (5-1), a junior, gave up only one earned run through six innings. Lopez replaced him in the seventh and closed the door on Crenshaw.

Crenshaw starter Mark Jones had been effective all year for the Cougars (24-4), running up a 16-0 record before Thursday’s game.

But Jones was rocked for six earned runs and six hits in the title game.

Jones gave up eight walks and the Cougars committed four errors.

Four hits, including a two-run triple by Raul Quintero, gave South Gate a 3-1 lead in the top of the third. Crenshaw rallied to tie in the bottom of the inning on run-scoring singles by Michael McNeely and Bryan Murray.

South Gate (26-5), however, scored one run in the fourth and three more in the fifth.

4-A

El Camino Real 7, Chatsworth 6--El Camino Real survived a five-run first inning and rallied for a victory in the 4-A championship game.

First baseman Craig Carlton broke a 5-5 tie in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to score Daniel Cey, son of former Dodger Ron Cey, and then tripled in Cey in the sixth with the Conquistadores’ final run.

El Camino Real pitcher Kevin Szymanski gave up five runs--three earned--and four hits, two walks and an error in the first before settling down against Chatsworth (22-8).