Photo by Stephen Dachman

The Lakewood Lancers have lost four games this season—two of them to the Wilson Bruins, who completed a season sweep with a 6-4 victory.  Ty Provenchar pitched the final four innings of the game for the Bruins, allowing just one earned run and striking out four; Lakewood’s Jeff Yamaguchi struggled, giving up nine hits and five earned runs in five innings.

In the first, Phillip Visico singled to lead off the game, then was moved over by Blake Cooper’s sac bunt.  Chris Hubbard singled Visico home to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.  In the bottom of the first, Bruins starter Chase DeJong walked four batters, but kept the Lancers from scoring with a pick-off of Tyler Leidholdt at first base.  DeJong gave up two runs in the third when he hit Hunter Jones and Yamaguchi, then saw both score; Jones on a fielder’s choice from Zach Alofaituli and Yamaguchi on a Tyler Schultz sac fly, giving Lakewood the 2-1 lead after three.

But Wilson would take the lead for good in the fifth, when Keith White hit a full-count RBI single to score Cody Harris and Hubbard.  Matt Treece hit a high chopper to right to score White, giving Wilson a 5-2 lead; they added an insurance run in the top of the seventh, when Nathan Alcafaras doubled in Hubbard.  The Lancers charged back in the bottom of the seventh, as Jones scored on an error, and Razo singled in Yamaguchi, but two strikeouts from Provenchar, including the final out against Tyler Schultz, ended the game.

Harris had a great game for the Bruins, going 3-4 with an RBI and a double.  But it was Provenchar who turned the most heads, as the junior shut down one of the best offenses in the country.  “He’s been a two-inning guy,” said coach Andy Hall after the game, “so that’s huge.  It’s his first year on varsity, and I’ve been really pleased with his performance.”  Hall and his team hope that the emotional win will help close the door on some of the fielding errors and mental mistakes they’d made along the way this season.  “Hopefully we’re peaking at the right time,” he said.

“It feels really good,” said Provenchar of getting the win.  “Hopefully we’ll be able to build off it for the rest of the season.

For Lakewood coach Spud O’Neil, it was a frustrating afternoon, as his team committed two errors and lost their second league game.  “It was just a bad game,” he said.  “Everybody was in the right spot, we just didn’t come through—guys that are good, too.”  O’Neil.

All of a sudden, the league is wide open again—Lakewood and Poly are tied for first at 6-2, Wilson is at 5-2, and Millikan is at 5-3, with two and a half weeks to go.

Wilson will face Millikan at Blair at 6:30 this Friday in a game with enormous implications in the league race, while Lakewood will face Cabrillo in the afternoon game, and then take on Bishop Amat on Saturday at Redondo Union High at 7pm, for the Redondo Tournament Championship.