bosco

Every football program needs a Jessie Christensen on their staff. She’s the MacGyver of St. John Bosco High‘s program.

Before colleges had general managers or people in charge of operations, St. John Bosco hired Christensen in 2013 to be director of football operations. That means everything and anything is within her purview, from travel arrangements to parental and player communication to finances to dealing with college coaches.

“She was first the first of her kind. Now everybody has one,” coach Jason Negro said.

A former parent in the program, Taliuta Viliamu-Asa, said of Christensen, “She wears so many hats and ensures each year that the whole operations, academics study halls, grade checks, player feeding, banquet, games, media visitors, ball boys, volunteers, tailgate, middle school camps, and etc. are well planned out. She has a hand in it all to make sure every event, trip, fundraiser, football game and practically everything involving the football program results in being ran with careful planning for successful results.”

Always be nice to Christensen, for she has the keys to open any door.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

The much anticipated pitching duel between Gary Morse of Orange Lutheran and Julian Garcia of St. John Bosco on Wednesday under the lights at Hart Park exceeded expectations.

With both hitting 95 mph, Morse gave up two hits in six innings with eight strikeouts. Garcia struck out 10 and also gave up two hits, but one was a leadoff home run by Ricardo Hurtado.

St. John Bosco (11-2, 5-0) broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the seventh to defeat Orange Lutheran 4-1. It was the second consecutive Braves win. Orange Lutheran, which came into the week ranked No. 1 by The Times after winning the National High School Invitational, dropped to 7-3 overall and 0-2 in the Trinity League.

Closer Jack Champlin came in after a leadoff single in the seventh to pick up the save.

The Braves loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, then scored two runs on a wild pitch and added a third on James Clark’s single. The teams close out their three-game series in a 1:30 p.m. game Thursday at St. John Bosco.

Gary Morse of Orange Lutheran struck out eight against St. John Bosco in six innings Wednesday.

(Nick Koza)

Concord De La Salle 1, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 0: Sam Lakey hit a two-out solo home run in the top of the seventh inning to break up a pitching duel and send De La Salle into Thursday’s championship game of the National Classic. It was the third consecutive shutout by De La Salle pitchers. Notre Dame’s Lachlan Clark made no mistakes other than giving up the home run. He struck out 10 in 6⅔ innings. Notre Dame twice had bases-loaded situations but failed to take advantage, including hitting into a double play in the bottom of the sixth.

Corona Centennial 5, Cypress 1: Jacob Torres threw a complete game with nine strikeouts and Aiden Simpson homered to lead the Huskies in a semifinal game of the National Classic. They will face De La Salle on Thursday at 4 p.m. at El Dorado in the tourney final.

Vancouver (Wash.) Union 1, El Dorado 0: The Golden Hawks gave up a run in the bottom of the seventh. Julian Rodriguez gave up three hits in 6⅔ innings.

Fountain Valley 5, Edison 0: Four pitchers combined for the shutout. Ethan Cortez had two doubles.

Harvard-Westlake 7, Loyola 1: James Tronstein homered, Jake Kim had two RBIs and Evan Alexander struck out 10 in 5⅓ innings.

Bell 7, Chula Vista Olympian 3: The Eagles (15-1) received four RBIs from Eric Medina, including a two-run single in the seventh to break a 3-3 tie.

Sylmar 5, San Francisco Lincoln 2: Tim Sepulveda had two hits and three RBIs while Rickee Luevano went three for three to lead Sylmar.

El Camino Real 6, La Costa Canyon 4: Michael Spancer and Shane Bogacz each had three hits while Blake Dubin had a two-run single for the Royals.

Cleveland 9, Marshall 3: The Cavaliers won their eighth consecutive game. Shiloh Wickliffe had two hits and three RBIs.

Quartz Hill 13, Palmdale 0: Parker White had three hits and threw a no-hitter in the Golden League win over Palmdale.

Ayala 4, Bonita 2: Easton Sarmiento struck out seven in 5⅓ innings for Ayala (11-1).

Bishop Alemany 10, Chatsworth 0: Mikey Martinez, a transfer from Crespi, had three hits in his Alemany debut.

Carson 9, Classical 7: Nate Ruan had three hits, including a two-run home run. Skylar Vinson also had a two-run home run.

Foothill 6, Irvine 0: Jackson Phillips threw the shutout, striking out nine and giving up two hits.

Villa Park 5, Arcadia 2: Aidan Young had two hits for Villa Park. Logan Hoppie threw a complete game with six strikeouts.

Mira Costa 13, Torrance 4: Connor Collins drove in four runs for the Mustangs.

Oaks Christian 5, Westlake 1: Dane Disney and Carson Sheffer each had two hits in the Marmonte League win.

Thousand Oaks 3, Newbury Park 1: Jake Ange continued his hot hitting with a home run, single and two RBIs.

Palos Verdes 7, Redondo Union 2: Franco Correa and Jackson Alba each finished with three hits for Palos Verdes.

Huntington Beach 8, Corona del Mar 2: Jared Grindlinger had four hits and four RBIs and Owen Bone homered for the Oilers.

Newport Harbor 7, Los Alamitos 3: Henry Mann was three for three with two RBIs for Newport Harbor.

Norco 17, King 2: The Cougars (12-1) received four hits from Zion Martinez and three hits and three RBIs from Jacob Melendez to stay unbeaten in the Big VIII League. Jordan Ayala struck out seven and gave up one hit in four innings, setting him up to pitch against St. John Bosco on Tuesday in the Boras Classic.

Santa Margarita 6, Mater Dei 0: Tyler Unter struck out nine in six scoreless innings and Andre Owens had two doubles for the Eagles.

Servite 6, JSerra 4: Jaden Liu had two RBIs in Servite’s Trinity League win.

South Hills 5, McClatchy 2: Christian Santoyo threw a complete game for South Hills.

Mission Viejo 1, Tesoro 0: Jackson Krause, Caleb Tucker and Jackson Stonebarger combined for the shutout. Aiden Chapuis had three hits.

Chaminade 4, Granada Hills 3: Nicholas Penaranda had three hits for the Highlanders in the loss. Isaac Hearn had two hits and two RBIs for Chaminade.

Corona Santiago 9, Las Vegas Basic 2: Jonathan Thornton had three hits and Striker Pence struck out six in five innings.

Softball

Orange Lutheran 2, King 1: The Lancers won their first-round game of the Michelle Carew tournament. Rylee Silva struck out seven. Carlie Snyder had two hits.

Garden Grove Pacifica 13, Long Beach Poly 6: Matte Stern had a triple, single and four RBIs for Pacifica.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 7, Camarillo 2: Jackie Morales hit a two-run home run for the Knights.

Fullerton 7, Chino Hills 5: Hayley Brock had a home run, double, two singles and four RBIs for 13-1 Fullerton. Malaya Majam-Finch struck out nine. Milena Medyn led Chino Hills with three hits.

Norco 4, Long Beach Millikan 0: Coral Williams struck out nine in the shutout. Angelina Gonzales hit a home run.

Marina 8, Rio Mesa 0: Mia Valbuena threw two no-hitters, first against Rio Mesa, then in a 1-0 win over Los Altos. She had 18 strikeouts against Los Altos.

No. 1-ranked St. John Bosco began Trinity League baseball play on Tuesday the same way it has done early in the season — with more good pitching.

Julian Garcia struck out seven, walked one and gave up three hits in five innings of a 6-0 win over JSerra. It was the fourth shutout in five games this season for the Braves (5-0). Jhett Ohira had three hits and Jaden Jackson and Noah Everly added two hits apiece.

Bishop Alemany 6, Harvard-Westlake 5: The Warriors handed Harvard-Westlake its first Mission League loss. Alex Noble had two hits for Alemany (8-2, 3-0).

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 13, Chaminade 2: Unbeaten Notre Dame (7-0) was led by Benett Pace, who hit two home runs and finished with four RBIs. Jacob Madrid added two hits and two RBIs. Beckett Berg struck out six and gave up one hit in five innings.

St. Francis 6, Loyola 2: Lucas Becerra contributed three hits in the Mission League win. Donovan Udell threw two scoreless innings of relief.

Sierra Canyon 3, Crespi 1: Armando Solorio threw a complete game with six strikeouts and no walks.

Florida Stoneman Douglas 7, Santa Margarita 6: The Eagles couldn’t hold on after opening a 6-1 lead. Warren Gravely III had a home run.

Servite 6, Aliso Niguel 2: The Friars received scoreless innings of relief from Wyatt Karges, Eli Rubel and Isaiah Camacho.

Los Alamitos 5, Edison 3: Will McCullough had three hits for Los Alamitos.

Arcadia 18, Hoover 2: Matt Manzo had four RBIs and Jordan Vogel had three hits.

La Mirada 4, Etiwanda 2: Ian Nunez had a three-run home run for La Mirada.

Huntington Beach 6, Marina 1: Jared Grindlinger struck out four with no walks in four innings. Ely Mason had a double and single.

Cypress 5, Villa Park 3: Tate Belfanti struck out eight in 3 2/3 innings for Cypress.

Newport Harbor 5, Corona del Mar 1: Ryan Williams homered and Gavin Guy picked up the win.

Softball

Murrieta Mesa 12, Temecula Valley 0: Macy Clark hit two home runs in the five-inning win for No. 1-ranked Murrieta Mesa.

JSerra 8, Aliso Niguel 2: Zena Edwards hit a two-run home run and Margenta De Arte had a two-run double for JSerra.

Garden Grove Pacifica 6, Eastvale Roosevelt 5: The Mariners got a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh from Jenna Valladares.

Harvard-Westlake 11, Louisville 7: Izzy Whelan drove in three runs in the loss.

Downey 21, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 6: The Vikings (10-2) routed Notre Dame behind Hazel Renteria. Delilah Navarro and Kayla Gutierrez each had four hits.