Baseball: Marshall has an Angel in its corner
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Never in the 82-year history of L.A. Marshall has a baseball team advanced this far in the City Section Division I playoffs until now. The Barristers will play Reseda Cleveland on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at USC in a semifinal game, with the winner advancing to Dodger Stadium for Saturday’s 1 p.m. final against Banning or San Fernando.
And, if Marshall is going to make it to Dodger Stadium, it will be because of the right arm of crafty junior Angel Lerma, who’s 6-3 with a 2.12 ERA and knows how to pitch in big games.
As a freshman, he lost to eventual City champion San Fernando and standout pitcher David Lira, 1-0. This season, he owns wins over Narbonne and defending City champion El Camino Real.
Lerma, combined with the addition of Lincoln transfer Adam Martinez (.408 average) and All-City outfielder George Alamillo, make the Barristers a dangerous opponent for No. 2-seeded Reseda Cleveland.
The other semfinal matches two tough, proud programs, San Fernando and Banning are led by veteran coaches Armando Gomez and John Gonzalez. San Fernando is expected to use its ace, Alonzo Garcia, who is very tough to defeat in big games.
The game also matches two of the best power hitters in the City Section in Roberto Ramos of San Fernando (11 home runs) and Juan Gallardo of Banning (three home runs, 16 doubles). The game is at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at USC.
-- Eric Sondheimer