Baseball: Birmingham girl pitcher wins again

A year ago, Lake Balboa Birmingham went 2-24. This season, the Patriots are 9-3, and one of the players contributing to the turnaround is Marti Sementelli, a girl pitcher who keeps holding her own in baseball. She went six innings Tuesday and improved to 2-1 in the Patriots' 13-4 victory over Las Vegas Western in Las Vegas.

Birmingham is 3-0 in the tournament. Daniel Gomez had a triple and three RBIs.

Chatsworth won two games in Las Vegas, defeating Longmont (Colo.) Niwot, 11-4, and Las Vegas Durango, 8-6. Christian Lopez struck out 10 and walked none in the first game. Chris Carlin had two doubles and Steven Karkenny had two hits.

Reseda Cleveland defeated Sunrise Mountain, 17-3, in five innings. Alex Fera had three hits. Cleveland lost to Palo Verde, 22-6.

La Mirada defeated Glenn, 12-1. Mike Piazza had three hits and Daniel Poncedeleon struck out seven.

Mission Hills Alemany (11-3) defeated. Standley Lake (Colo.), 12-8. Cody Sulflow hit a two-run home run and Peter Van Gansen, Mark Strazzeri and Anthony Esparza had two hits apiece.

-- Eric Sondheimer