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It’s not every day that umpires decide a player used an illegal bat in a high school baseball game, so Wednesday’s Mission League game between host Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Sierra Canyon began with a bang. A Sierra Canyon batter in the first inning was declared out after the umpires inspected the aluminum bat following an appeal from Notre Dame.

Sierra Canyon coach Tom Meusborn had a brief discussion with the umpires but their decision was not reversed. The bat apparently had a crack, which caused a strange sound. So began a sometimes tense, nearly four-hour game for second place in the Mission League.

Sierra Canyon scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a one-run lead, keyed by an RBI double from Brayden Goldstein and a bases loaded walk. In the bottom of the seventh, the Knights received two walks with one out. Sierra Canyon brought in sophomore pitcher Milo Benattar, who got a fly out and force play to save a 3-2 victory.

Sierra Canyon is 8-3 in league and Notre Dame 7-4.

Harvard-Westlake 12, St. Francis 1: The Wolverines, ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section power rankings, received home runs and four RBIs each from James Tronstein and Ira Rootman. Evan Alexander struck out 10 in 4 1/3 innings.

Chaminade 7, Crespi 0: Jackson Schroeder struck out 11 and gave up one hit. Isaiah Hearn and Robby Morgan each hit home runs.

Loyola 11, Bishop Alemany 4: Bobby Rapp had three hits to lead the Cubs.

Simi Valley 8, Royal 3: The Pioneers handed their rivals a first Coastal Canyon League defeat. Ryan Whiston had three hits, including two doubles.

Garfield 3, Bell 1: The Bulldogs improved to 7-0 in the Eastern League with a nine-inning win, possibly locking up a City Section Open Division playoff spot. Michael Santillan broke the 1-1 tie with an RBI single in the ninth.

Cypress 1, Foothill 0: Jake DeLaquil had the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning. Drew Slevcove struck out 13 in eight scoreless innings. Landon Smith pitched the final two innings for Cypress. Caden Lauridsen threw nine scoreless innings for Foothill.

St. John Bosco 6, Servite 3: Brayden Krakowski threw four innings of scoreless relief. Aaron Garcia had two RBIs.

Mater Dei 8, JSerra 5: Jack Reis hit a home run and Ezekiel Lara, Jaxon Olmstead and Emilio Young each had two hits for Mater Dei.

King 4, Corona Centennial 1: Eli Lipson had a two-run double and Jason Jones threw a complete game.

Corona 17, Eastvale Roosevelt 5: Adrian Ruiz had three hits and four RBIs.

Norco 3, Corona Santiago 2: After a scoreless game for five innings, Norco broke through for three runs in the sixth. Marcus Blanton had a two-run single. Santiago scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh before Jordan Ayala got the final out on a strikeout.

El Dorado 1, La Habra 0: Juilian Rodriguez struck out five and walked none in throwing the shutout. Brady Abner drove in the winning run in the sixth.

Gahr 9, Warren 1: Bryce Morrison gave up one run in five innings with six strikeouts and Andres Gonzalez had two hits and three RBIs.

San Clemente 2, Aliso Niguel 1: Easton Muraira threw a complete game for the Tritons.

Huntington Beach 4, Los Alamitos 2: Jared Grindlinger struck out eight in five innings.

Rancho Christian 10, Hillcrest 0: Jake Brande struck out 12 in five innings and gave up one hit. Hudson Abbe and Sean Downs each hit home runs.

Bishop Amat 4, La Salle 2: The Lancers clinched the Del Rey League title. Joaquin Ortiz went three for three.

Ayala 13, Diamond Bar 3: Easton Sarmiento finished with three hits and Dylan Wood added two hits and two RBIs.

Oaks Christian 2, Agoura 1: Justin Baird struck out eight in six innings for Oaks Christian. Carson Sheffer had two hits.

Mira Costa 7, West Torrance 1: Caden Ceman finished with three hits.

Torrance 4, Palos Verdes 3: Tessei Magori delivered a walk-off hit in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Softball

Norco 15, Corona Centennial 0: Peyton May gave up one hit and struck out 10 with no walks and Camryn May contributed three RBIs.

Mike Trout homered, Nolan Schanuel homered and hit a three-run double and Jose Soriano worked five shutout innings as the Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 on Wednesday to avoid a series sweep.

Trout’s eighth homer of the season was a 428-foot solo shot in the bottom of the fifth. That hit tied the 34-year-old Trout with the late Garret Anderson for the Angels’ franchise record of 796 extra-base hits. Anderson died last week of an acute necrotizing pancreatitis at the age of 53.

Soriano, who is 5-0, gave up three hits and struck out five in five innings before leaving with a 3-0 lead. He lowered his ERA to an MLB-leading 0.24. The 27-year-old right-hander is the first MLB pitcher since 1900 to allow no more than one run in the first six starts of a season, and he has the lowest ERA (with a minimum of 30 innings pitched) through a pitcher’s first six starts of a season since 1913, when earned runs became official in both leagues.

Despite his impressive outing, Soriano did not figure in the decision after the Blue Jays rallied in the seventh. Ernie Clement’s RBI single with two out cut the deficit to 3-1. Toronto then capitalized on a walk, an error and an RBI double by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., tying the game at 3.

The Angels countered in the bottom half. Schanuel, who hit a solo homer in the fourth, hit a three-run double to left that gave the Angels a 6-3 lead. They added another run on Hunter Renfroe’s RBI single.

Brent Suter (1-1) struck out two and worked a scoreless seventh for the win. Tommy Nance (0-2) allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings and took the loss.

The result was Wigan’s third successive Super League defeat and despite a promising showing with Sambou and Eckersley’s scores, it was Castleford who dominated much of the 80 minutes.

Wigan, without Harry Smith and Sam Walters through suspension as well as front rower Ethan Havard because of injury, were stunned when Castleford led early on following a flowing set, with Mapapalangi exchanging passes with Jason Qareqare before running in.

The hosts almost responded through Jai Field soon after but Mikaele Ravalawa showed incredible strength to wrestle him out of bounds before he could get the ball down.

Sambou’s sensational score was the pick of the first half, as he worked onto Eckersley’s offload, absorbed Qareqare’s tackle and outstretched his arm to ground the ball in mid-air before he went into touch.

Sambou and Eckersley linked up again shortly after, this time as Sambou beat Qareqare in an aerial battle. He tipped Jack Farrimond’s kick to the corner into the path of Eckersley, who touched down for his fourth try in as many meetings with the Tigers.

Castleford’s response after the break came via a clever pass from Tom Weaver as he sent Ashworth through to spin to the line under pressure from the hosts’ defence.

The visitors were not done there and Mapapalangi raced down the wing as Castleford kept up the pressure, eventually receiving the ball again and chasing his own kick to ground his second try of the afternoon.

Cas asserted themselves further when Lawler powered over the line and could have put the gloss on a thumping win when Weaver went in, but his score was chalked off for obstruction in the build-up.

Determined to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of rival St. John Bosco on Thursday, No. 1-ranked Orange Lutheran turned to Texas-bound catcher Brady Murrietta, who came through with a memorable individual performance in a 5-4 road victory.

Let’s count the ways Murrietta made an impact.

In the top of the first inning, he had a double. In the bottom of the first, he threw out the speedy James Clark trying to steal second. In the fifth, he drove in a run with a sacrifice pop fly. In the top of the sixth, he broke a 3-3 tie by sending a hanging slider from closer Jack Champlin over the fence in left field for a two-run home run. In the bottom of the sixth, he tagged out the potential tying run at the plate.

Pro scouts were out en masse to see Orange Lutheran pitcher Cooper Sides, whose fastball touched 95 mph. He struck out eight in five innings.

Champlin had a two-run triple in the first inning against Sides. Champlin had given up only one earned run all season until Orange Lutheran scored three runs (one earned) in 2⅔ innings of relief. The Lancers were particularly excited because Champlin taunted them after saving Wednesday’s 4-1 win, leading to shoving and pushing after the game. As a precautionary measure, the teams did not shake hands after Thursday’s game.

Orange Lutheran improved to 8-3 and 1-2 in the Trinity League. No. 2 St. John Bosco is 11-3 and 5-1. The teams could meet again next week at the Boras Classic.

Cypress 6, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 2: Tate Belfanti allowed one hit in four innings and struck out four for Cypress, which finished third at the National Classic.

Concord De La Salle 6, Corona Centennial 3: The Spartans won the National Classic. Devin Bishop and Michael Nonis hit home runs for Centennial, which became the first team in four days to score against De La Salle.

Bell 1, Las Vegas Southeast Career Tech 0: The Eagles improved to 16-1 and went 4-0 in San Diego. Manuel Pasillas threw five scoreless innings and AJ Esquivel threw two scoreless innings for the save.

West Ranch 6, Saugus 5: A four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh lifted West Ranch to the Foothill League win. Ty Diaz had two RBIs.

Hart 7, Golden Valley 4: Hayden Rhodes delivered two hits and three RBIs for Hart.

Valencia 9, Castaic 7: Justin Gaisford had a two-run home run for Valencia.

Corona Santiago 3, Aquinas 0: Troy Randall struck out 10 in five innings and Max Eldridge hit a home run to lead Santiago.

Maranatha 4, Granada Hills 0: Bradley Loiacono threw 6⅓ scoreless innings.

Foothill 2, La Habra 1: Caden Lauridsen struck out four with no walks while giving up two hits in a complete-game performance.

Agoura 6, Oak Park 0: Tyler Sterling had three RBIs for the Chargers.

Newbury Park 3, Thousand Oaks 0: Ben Miller and Chase Renzo combined on the shutout and Carson Richter had a three-run home run to lead the Panthers.

Oaks Christian 2, Westlake 1: Luke Puls had a solo home run and Gave Geyer threw three innings of scoreless relief.

Long Beach Millikan 4, Lakewood 0: Daunte Bell struck out eight with no walks in throwing the shutout.

Villa Park 4, Temecula Valley 2: Ezra Ornelas had two hits for Villa Park.

Softball

Norco 9, Corona del Sol 0: Leighton Gray and Isabella Ray hit home runs and Peyton May allowed three hits in a five-inning win at the Michelle Carew Classic.

Andy Pages hasn’t forgotten about last postseason, though he’d like to. And he’d surely like you to forget about it, too — or, well, most of it.

Feel free to retain the mental image of his epic smash-and-grab catch over teammate Kiké Hernández.

That stunning play in the bottom of the ninth inning didn’t just save Game 7 of the World Series, it also spared Pages’ reputation. Covered for the ignominy of his historically woeful four-for-51 hitting performance.

You know what will help everyone totally flush those memories? To turn the proverbial page? Maybe keep us from mentioning it ever again?

A steady diet of games like Thursday’s.

In an 8-2 season-opening victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium, Pages stood out among his club’s standouts.

And, as the eighth man in the order, he also served up a reminder that there really will be no rest for weary opposing pitchers this season.

The buoyant bottom of the lineup has bite, too: Let the record show it was Pages who hit the Dodgers’ first home run and drove in the club’s first runs to kick off their pursuit of a third consecutive World Series championship.

That it was he who cracked the code against Diamondbacks righty Zac Gallen in the fifth inning, teeing off on a three-run, 400-foot home run to left-center field.

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And that it was his at-bat to lead off the eighth — a full-count single the other way, into right field — that Roberts had to mention postgame.

In spring training, Roberts anointed Pages as this season’s “pick-to-click” candidate, in part because of how hard the 25-year-old center fielder has been working on improving his plate discipline after swinging at 32% of pitches outside of the zone last year.

The pick-to-click distinction previously went to Teoscar Hernández in 2024, before he became an All-Star in his first season with the Dodgers. Last year, Michael Conforto was Roberts’ pick.

Small wonder, perhaps, that Pages isn’t putting too much stock in his manager’s prediction: “It feels really nice for him to say that about me, or to pick me, but obviously I’m not really focused on that,” he said, through an interpreter.

What he’s focused on, he said, “is just trying to do everything I can, every day, to get a little bit better.”

That’s what’s got his manager so revved up.

“He’s a complete player,” Roberts gushed. “And I’m excited to see what he can do this year.”

Is an Andy Pages Breakout Season loading?

Andy Pages, center, celebrates with Teoscar Hernández, left, and Max Muncy after hitting a three-run home run in the fifth inning Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Were last season’s 27 home runs — second most on the Dodgers, behind Shohei Ohtani’s 55 — not a breakout?

I think … not?

Not when Pages so clearly has so much more to give.

Now when he does his homework like he did this spring, stationing himself in front of a pitching machine, calling out balls and strikes. (Watch out, Automated Balls and Strikes system?)

Not if the Dodgers can come to trust him at the plate like they now feel secure with him blanketing the outfield.

“Even last year when there were questions if he could play center field at a high level,” Roberts said. “And he’s worked his tail off, he really has. Every single day, he’s putting in work and he just keeps getting better — his jumps, his lines to the ball, and obviously the arm strength is there.”

On Thursday, Pages had another one of his sensational snags, taking an angle that would’ve made a defensive back proud in pursuit of Geraldo Perdomo’s fly ball to start the seventh. Stretched out, Pages slid beneath the ball to add to his opening-day highlight reel.

“I feel good,” Pages said, when I asked him afterward not about last postseason, but about his confidence heading into this season — though his mind went back there anyway.

“It’s something that happened earlier, the postseason is what the postseason was,” he said. “I’m not really focused on that, I’m focused on what I’m doing right now and my confidence is really high right now.”

Keep it up, and all anyone will remember is the heroics — including those to come.