Baseball: Northview only three outs away from Division IV title

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Thanks to a couple of spectacular fielding plays by second baseman Shane Fraijo and shortstop Rich Pedroza, Northview is still leading, 1-0, heading into the seventh inning of the Southern Section-Toyota Division IV championship Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

Frajio made a spectacular spinning, falling-away throw that beat Jericho Kelsey to first base, and Pedroza grabbed a heater up the middle that had bounced off pitcher Eddie Pedroza and beat Kyle Lengyel with his throw to first. Mike Vinnitsky was left stranded at third after leading off the inning with a single for Diamond Ranch.

Northview almost tacked on another run thanks to another Diamond Ranch mistake in the sixth inning. Left fielder Joe Carillo bobbled a routine fly ball, allowing Rich Pedroza to advance to third after he had reached with a single. However, the inning ending on the next at-bat when R.J. Arnold grounded out to second, stranding runners on the corners.

The Vikings have nine shutouts on the year and haven’t allowed a run in their last 15 innings. They need to post just one more to become champions.

-- Austin Knoblauch