Nothing is certain in baseball, but when Seth Hernandez is on the mound for Corona High, the team doesn’t lose. The Panthers are 15-0 over the last two seasons when Hernandez pitches.
On Thursday in a quarterfinal game of the National High School Invitational baseball tournament in Cary, N.C., he struck out 11, walked one and gave up an unearned run in a 4-1 win over Miami Columbus. He also had two hits. Hernandez has given up one unearned run in 29 1/3 innings while going 6-0 with 58 strikeouts and three walks.
Corona improved to 16-0 and will face Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian (20-3) on Friday in a 10 a.m. (EDT) matchup of nationally ranked teams.
Huntington Beach 12, Collierville (Tenn.) 1: The Oilers advanced to the semifinals via the mercy rule after five innings. A seven-run second inning featured a two-run double from Trent Grindlinger, an RBI single from CJ Weinstein and two bases-loaded walks. Grindlinger finished with three RBIs and Ethan Porter had two hits. Huntington Beach will face Venice (Fla.) in the semifinals.
La Mirada 6, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Poly Prep Country Day 2: Travis Friend had two RBIs in La Mirada’s consolation win in North Carolina.
Sylmar 4, San Fernando 1: Alex Martinez had three hits in Sylmar’s Valley Mission League win.
Sun Valley Poly 7, Kennedy 2: The Parrots (13-5, 8-0) stayed unbeaten in the Valley Mission League. Jacob Escalante had two hits. Fabian Bravo threw five innings to pick up the win.
Calabasas 15, Newbury Park 5: Connor Pink had a home run and four RBIs and Jack Quirk also homered for the Coyotes.
Oaks Christian 12, Agoura 9: The Lions rallied from a 7-2 deficit aided by an eight-run sixth inning that featured a grand slam by freshman Dane Disney. Jack Brinkman had three hits.
Corona Centennial 8, Norco 1: Aiden Simpson contributed a home run, single and three RBIs for the Huskies. Joseph Malki struck out nine in six innings.
Westlake 7, Thousand Oaks 3: The Warriors stayed in first place in the Marmonte League. Mason Charles had a three-run home run. Blake Miller also homered.
Corona Santiago 10, Roosevelt 5: Isaac Fanoga had three hits and four RBIs for Santiago.
Softball
Harvard-Westlake 11, Louisville 8: Ainsley Nutting had three hits and three RBIs while Ava Molina and Peyton Perriott hit home runs in a Mission League opener for the Wolverines. Kelsey Vitalis had two doubles and a single for Louisville.
