El Camino Real Has Wild Ride in Final

The dominance of San Fernando Valley baseball continues.

Senior right-hander Shaun Fishman, in an impressive relief performance, survived a seventh-inning scare to lead El Camino Real High to a 13-11 victory over Banning in the City Section 4-A Division baseball final before 3,116 Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

It marked the 24th time in 25 years that a Valley team won in the City 4-A final. El Camino Real won titles in 1993 and ’94.

However, the Conquistadores (20-10) did it the hard way this time, placing second in the West Valley League and knocking off second-seeded Chatsworth in the semifinals.

Fishman (8-5), who pitched five innings in a 9-6 victory over Chatsworth on Tuesday, entered in the third inning as the Conquistadores’ third pitcher and retired the first 10 batters he faced while El Camino Real overcame a 9-5 deficit.

But with El Camino Real leading, 13-9, in the seventh, Fishman encountered trouble as Banning (21-12) struck for two runs and placed runners at first and third with two out.

Fishman brought a wild and poorly played game to a close, however, by retiring Michael Cockrell on a foul pop-up that first baseman Woody Cliffords caught in the coach’s box.

“I came out ready,� said Fishman, who pitched five innings of relief Tuesday against Chatsworth. “My curveball was working and I was ready to go.�

Fishman was selected most valuable player of the playoffs, but Cliffords also continued his roll, going three for five to finish 13 for 16 in the playoffs.

Cliffords’ fifth-inning single to right field drove in Jared Maiden from third to give El Camino Real a 10-9 lead and cap a five-run rally.

“We jelled at the right time,� Cliffords said. “We’ve come a long way in the last two weeks.�

In the sixth, catcher Ray Leduc hit a two-run home run to extend the Conquistador lead to 12-9.

When it was over, El Camino Real Coach Mike Maio leaped into Leduc’s arms as the Conquistadores dogpiled near the mound.

Said Leduc: “Nobody gave us a shot. I knew we had a good team.

“It’s everybody’s dream to hit one out in Dodger Stadium.�

El Camino Real’s wild fifth-inning rally included a three-run throwing error by Banning second baseman Jason Pastrano.

Dan Williams’ single off reliever Miguel Gallardo drove in Kurt Birkins from second with the first run of the fifth. The Conquistadores loaded the bases and Pastrano threw wildly to first on a grounder to shallow right field by Jared Maiden. The ball rolled to the backstop as Maiden circled the bases and slid head-first into third.

Cliffords followed with a sharp single to score Maiden and cap the five-run outburst.

“We just kept fighting back,� Cliffords said. “We got fired up and we capitalized.�

El Camino Real added an insurance run in the seventh when the Pilots committed their fifth and sixth errors of the game on the same play.

Cliffords singled, stole second and came around to score on throwing errors by catcher Vince Velasquez and center fielder Cockrell.

Gallardo, a 5-foot-10 senior third baseman, gave Banning an 8-5 lead in the second inning with a grand slam into the left-field pavilion off reliever Birkins.

Gallardo crushed Birkins’ fourth pitch and immediately raised his hands in triumph. The ball carried over the 360-foot sign, landing three rows into the bleachers.

Banning stretched its lead to 9-5 in the third inning on a single by Miguel Perez that scored Marco Barrera from second.

El Camino Real took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Jose Morales raced home from third on a wild pickoff throw by Velasquez, the Pilots’ second error of the inning.

Banning countered with four runs in the bottom of the inning on two-run singles by Frank Perez and Velazquez.