Santa Margarita, trying to position itself for an at-large baseball playoff berth from the Trinity League, helped its cause on Friday with a 10-9 win over Orange Lutheran, ranked No. 1 by The Times.
Andre Owens hit a three-run home run for the Eagles (15-10, 4-8), who have played all their league opponents tough but lost several close games. Vincent Milo finished with three hits.
Friday's game was supposed to have little drama after the Eagles took a 10-5 lead into the seventh. That's when the Lancers came close to a stunning comeback. A two-run double by Milan Rai, followed by an error, made it 10-8. Brady Murrietta came through with an RBI single, making it 10-9. The Lancers had runners on first and third with two outs when pitcher Griffin Doane got the final out on a fly ball.
Rai had three hits and Ricardo Hurtado had two hits for Orange Lutheran (18-4, 6-3), which fell 3 1/2 games behind first-place St. John Bosco (19-5, 11-1). St. John Bosco closes its regular season next week in a three-game series against Mater Dei.
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St. John Bosco 10, Servite 0: Jack Champlin and Miles Clark each hit three-run home runs. Four St. John Bosco pitchers combined for the shutout.
Los Alamitos 7, Huntington Beach 4: The Griffins handed Huntington Beach its first Sunset League loss. A three-run double by Cruz Derrico keyed the win.
Cypress 8, Foothill 5: Ben Martinez drove in four runs to help Cypress complete a sweep of Foothill this week.
Ayala 1, Diamond Bar 0: Caleb Trugman threw a three-hit shutout, striking out 11. Ayala scored the game's only run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Elijah Duarte.
Mira Costa 10, West Torrance 3: Kellan Finn had a three-run home run and Connor Collins also homered for Mira Costa.
Royal 3, Simi Valley 0: Dustin Dunwoody struck out 14 with no walks and gave up four hits for Royal.
Oaks Christian 11, Agoura 3: Oliver Dauskurdas had a home run, single and four RBIs. Luke Puls contributed three hits.
Golden Valley 3, Saugus 0: Sean Butts threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts.
Castaic 9, Hart 8: Orion Gonzalez hit a three-run home run for Castaic. Hayden Rhodes hit two home runs and drove in five runs for Hart.
Orange Lutheran 8, Santa Margarita 0: Cate Medvitz, Rylee Silva and Carlie Snyder blasted home runs for the Lancers.
JSerra 2, Mater Dei 0: Liliana Escobar threw the shutout, giving up one hit with 12 strikeouts.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.