ENCINO — Harvard-Westlake alumni and tailgaters filled the parking lot and stands surrounding O’Malley Family Field on Tuesday afternoon for the first of two games between Mission League competitors Harvard-Westlake and Notre Dame.
The Wolverines strung together two runs in the fifth inning and Bryce Rainer closed out the game with two scoreless innings for a 2-1 win to give the Harvard-Westlake faithful what they came for — aside from free In-N-Out burgers provided by the school.
“The Harvard-Westlake-Notre Dame rivalry, battle is always epic and never disappoints,” Wolverines coach Jared Halpert said. “We hung on long enough to put some good at-bats together and the ball rolled our way at the end of the game.”
Three pitchers took to the mound for the Wolverines (9-1-1 overall, 4-0-1 in Mission League) in Jackson Alex, Jake Chung and Rainer. Alex allowed two hits while recording two strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings, Chung allowed no hits and struck out four batters in 2 1/3 innings.
Rainer finished off the final two innings, giving up one hit and striking out three Notre Dame hitters. He also went 2 for 3 at the plate.
The senior and No. 39-ranked MLB prospect had a pivotal moment against Notre Dame’s Levi Sterling, his USA Baseball teammate and the No. 40 MLB prospect, in the sixth inning. Sterling came up to bat with the bases loaded after previously being intentionally walked.
Rainer forced Sterling to ground out, ending the inning and throttling the momentum the Knights (5-5-1, 2-3-1) had gathered.
“Facing great competition is always fun,” Rainer said. “He’s a good hitter overall, he doesn’t really strike out too much. He’s not gonna give you an easy at-bat, he’s always going to fight.”
Nate Kugler threw 5 2/3 innings for Notre Dame. He had three strikeouts and allowed one run.
The Knights feed off of his 88-90 mph velocity and also his toughness.
“He’s committed to not only his own craft but he’s the guy who wants…
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