El Segundo Is Winner at State, 3-2 : Baseball: Unearned run in eighth inning is game-winner in first-round game of American Legion tournament.

El Segundo rallied for an unearned run with two outs in the eighth inning Saturday to defeat Marina of Huntington Beach, 3-2, in an error-filled opener in the American Legion state tournament at Yountville.

The teams combined for eight errors, five by El Segundo, which nonetheless held off Marina with the help of two key defensive plays in the late innings.

“It was kind of damp and the ball was wet,� said El Segundo Coach John Stevenson, explaining the errors in the morning game. “Somehow we pulled it out.�

El Segundo (30-7) will play the loser of Saturday’s game between Lodi and Fairfield at noon today in the six-team, double-elimination tournament.

Left-hander Dave Reed pitched nine innings for a complete-game victory to improve to 11-1. He gave up no earned runs and six hits, striking out eight and walking two, one intentionally.

Reed was in command with a 2-0 lead until Marina tied the score with two unearned runs in the seventh inning after two infield errors.

El Segundo came back in the top of the eighth when, with two outs, David Scanlan hit a grounder that shortstop Jack Groh threw into the dugout for a two-base error. Scanlan moved to third on a wild pitch by Jim Sipkovich and scored on Marco Estrada’s infield single.

Marina threatened in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases with one out. But El Segundo got out of the inning when second baseman Ryan McCloskey and shortstop Estrada turned a double play.

A lead-off walk by Reed put the tying run on base in the ninth, but the runner was thrown out at second by catcher Jake Coulter on a steal attempt.

“We were kind of struggling a little bit at the end,� Stevenson said. “Dave (Reed) was a little tired.�

Stevenson said it was the first time Reed, a 6-foot-2, 160-pound senior at El Segundo High, had pitched nine innings in a game. High school games are seven innings, as are American Legion games until the final round of the area playoffs.

Because the state tournament is played under National League rules, designated hitters are not allowed. Stevenson said Saturday’s game was the first time Reed had batted this year. The pitcher got a single in the sixth and suffered a slightly sprained ankle when he slid into third.

“He probably hasn’t slid in a few years,� Stevenson said.

El Segundo scored its first run in the fourth on back-to-back singles by Lawrence Norris and Mike Poor and an error on the Marina third baseman, who allowed Frank Bignami’s grounder to go between his legs.

El Segundo made it 2-0 in the fifth. Scanlan and Estrada opened the inning with singles and, after a groundout, Norris singled in Scanlan.

Scanlan, Estrada and Norris each had two hits to lead a nine-hit attack.