Chris Downs’ relief pitching lifts Hart to 4-3 upset of Villa Park

Chris Downs is 6 feet 7, and when he’s on the mound, he can look very intimidating.

The Hart High senior came through Tuesday with five strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings of impressive relief to help the Indians hand Villa Park its first defeat 4-3.

Sierra Canyon 2, Crespi 2: A seventh-inning home run from sophomore Diego Velazquez for Crespi tied the score during a game halted by darkness after seven innings.

Crespi is 7-0-2 and Sierra Canyon is 8-0-1. Kehden Hettiger hit a two-run home run for Sierra Canyon while Ethan Kodama added a home run for Crespi.

Corona Centennial 3, Ramona 0: Left-hander Jaden McNeely threw a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts for 8-0 Centennial.

Harvard-Westlake 15, Loyola 2: Owen Carlson had three hits and Thomas Bridges struck out nine with no walks to lead Harvard-Westlake.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 3, Chaminade 1: Levi Sterling struck out three in the seventh for the save as Notre Dame improved to 7-0. Madden Ocko and Adam Shlesinger each had two hits.

St. Francis 1, Bishop Alemany 0: Sophomore Caleb Thatcher struck out nine, walked one and threw a complete game for St. Francis.

St. John Bosco 8, Servite 4: Leadoff hitter Hunter Friedberg had three hits in the Braves’ Trinity League win.

Mater Dei 4, JSerra 1: Landon Gordon threw a complete game and Dylan Wetzel hit a two-run home run in a Trinity League opener. So the two Trinity favorites, JSerra and Orange Lutheran, are both 0-1.

Newbury Park 3, Flintridge Prep 0: Derek Turner threw a no-hitter with 14 strikeouts for Newbury Park.

Bishop Amat 5, Gardena Serra 4: Miguel Perez came through with the walk-off hit for Bishop Amat.

Long Beach Wilson 9, Bellflower 2: Jace Orozco had three RBIs for Wilson.

Costa Mesa 5, Santa Ana 0: Michael Joyce threw a complete game, striking out eight, to help Costa Mesa improve to 9-0.

Sylmar 11, VAAS 0: Freshman Alex Martinez struck out eight in four innings for Sylmar.

Softball

Esperanza 11, Foothill 0: The Aztecs won in five innings. Audrey Robles had four hits, including two home runs, and six RBIs.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 11, Chatsworth 0: Ella Parker hit two home runs and finished with three hits and four RBIs for Notre Dame.

JSerra 9, Dana Hills 0: Kealani Caster hit a home run, Mia Krueger had three hits and Eva Hurtado struck out 11 to lead JSerra.

El Camino Real 6, Bishop Alemany 0: Sarah Delgado threw a one-hitter while Akane Gonzalez had two hits.

Los Alamitos 11, Fountain Valley 9: Audrey Hobbs and Morgan Fitzpatrick each had three hits for Los Alamitos.