HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL : Rudelson Celebrates 17th Birthday With No-Hitter

Pitching on his 17th birthday, Aaron Rudelson threw a no-hitter and struck out 14 to lead Highland Hall to a 6-0 win over Grace Community in a Westside League game at Petit Field on Friday.

Grace Community did not hit a ball hard the entire game, according to Highland Hall Coach Dave Desmond.

“He was as untouchable as any pitcher I’ve seen at our level this year,” Desmond said. “He doesn’t throw as hard as some, but what makes him so good is that he’s smart and poised on the mound.”

Rudelson, who has struck out only once in 47 at-bats and who is hitting .511, also tripled for Highland Hall, which increased its lead over second-place Grace Community to 1 1/2 games.

Rudelson is scheduled to pitch Monday when Highland Hall (11-5, 5-0 in league) tries to clinch the league championship against Newbridge.

Rudelson (8-2), a junior right-hander, has completed all nine of his starts and has 88 strikeouts, 27 short of the school record. Friday’s game was Rudelson’s first shutout this season and lowered his earned-run average to 2.55.

Highland Hall stole nine bases in 10 attempts and has 145 this season. Sage Kibbee (2 for 3) and Wes Parrish (2 for 3) each batted in a run for Highland Hall.

Tony Saccaro (4-3) of Grace Community (6-5-1, 4-2) struck out 11 in six innings.

DEL REY LEAGUE

Tom Martinez had nine strikeouts to lead St. John Bosco to a 4-0 win over Alemany at St. John Bosco. Bill Horvat doubled in the fourth inning for Alemany (16-7, 4-5). Alemany pitcher Bill Lucid allowed six hits--two of them bunts--and struck out three.

MARMONTE LEAGUE

Joe Summers, Dan Presta and Travis Kinyoun drove in runs in the first inning as Royal defeated Thousand Oaks, 4-1. Carlton Hurst walked with the bases loaded in the sixth inning to drive in the final run for Royal (11-8-1, 5-4). Sean Sullivan (2-0) allowed two hits through five innings and struck out five.

Don Smith had three hits, including a solo home run, to lead Newbury Park to a 6-5 win over Camarillo at Newbury Park. Doug Rich of Newbury Park was 2 for 3 with an RBI.

GOLDEN LEAGUE

Travis Regnolds struck out 10 and scattered two hits in five innings as Canyon defeated Ridgecrest Burroughs, 8-2. Regnolds (5-4) also had three hits, two RBIs and scored twice for Canyon (12-7, 8-3). Ken Sollom added two hits and an RBI for Canyon.

FOOTHILL LEAGUE

Jason Pedrales hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to lead Alhambra to a 5-3 victory over Burroughs. John Butler of Burroughs (7-11, 3-8) had a two-run single and teammate Dean Money also had an RBI in the fourth inning. Alhambra (13-6, 9-2) leads second-place Hart by one game.

FRONTIER LEAGUE

Pat Fairly’s two-run single capped a four-run seventh-inning rally as Calabasas defeated Santa Clara, 13-12, at Calabasas. The win keeps Calabasas (6-9, 5-5), which trails second-place Santa Clara by one game, in contention for the league’s final playoff spot. Ceo Wimmer was 4 for 5, including 2 doubles, and had 2 RBIs to lead Calabasas’ 20-hit attack. Jared Ricco and Fairly each had three hits.

Nordhoff, which did not have enough players to field a team because of disciplinary reasons, forfeited its game to Agoura (6-9, 3-6).

SANTA FE LEAGUE

Greg Miljanik struck out nine and scattered three hits to lead Bell-Jeff to a 4-2 win over Chaminade. Bell-Jeff (8-10, 7-3) scored three unearned runs in the first inning and made the lead stand up. Pat Kelly of Chaminade (7-10, 5-5) allowed only one hit in 6 inings of relief. Scott Stuber hit a home run for Chaminade.

Pater Noster scored two runs off reliever Roland Dela Maza in the sixth inning and held on for a 5-3 win. St. Genevieve (8-8, 5-4) was trailing, 3-0, after three innings but tied the game in the fourth with a rally highlighted by Wenc Ramirez’s two-run single.

Harvard used an error and four walks to score three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and defeated Cathedral, 9-8. Gary Nedal of Harvard (8-8, 5-5) was 1 for 4 with 2 RBIs and Will Sellman had a two-run home run.

ALPHA LEAGUE

Pat Huston’s seventh-inning, two-run single broke a 2-2 tie and propelled first-place Montclair Prep (15-4, 9-1) to a 5-2 victory over Maranatha. Jeff Light, who was 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs, followed Huston with an RBI double.

Light (5-1) pitched a two-hitter with six strikeouts and three walks. Maranatha (7-3 in league) scored both its runs in the second inning on an error, a walk and a single.

Paul Johnson’s three-run home run was the big blow in a five-run fifth inning as L.A. Lutheran defeated Village Christian, 8-5. Mark Tietjen also had a pinch-hit, two-run single in the fifth for L.A. Lutheran (4-11-1, 4-6).

LIBERTY LEAGUE

Clayton Holt was 2 for 3 and scored the winning run on a fifth-inning bases-loaded walk as Oakwood defeated Queen of Angels, 3-2. Pitchers Steve Williams and Marc Williams (6-1) of Oakwood (8-1-1, 6-0) combined for nine strikeouts.

DELPHIC LEAGUE

Victor Salazar struck out six and pitched a complete game as Providence defeated Bel-Air Prep, 13-1. Mark Miyamoto and Rich Campus each had three hits for Providence (15-6-1, 5-1), which had 15 singles. Adam Grant, Steve Ross and Jeff Cirillo had two hits apiece.

TRI-VALLEY LEAGUE

Bishop Diego had 11 hits and took advantage of four errors to beat Oak Park, 8-0. Scott Veres and Jason Ornstein had two hits apiece for Oak Park (7-7, 5-5).