Hart, Cerritos to Play for 4-A Baseball Title

A list of the top baseball teams in the Southern Section 4-A Division is taped to a wall in the Cerritos High dugout. As the playoffs progressed, teams that were eliminated were crossed off.

Now only two--Cerritos and Hart--remain.

Richard Emard, the second-year coach at Cerritos who posted the list, would like to cross off Hart (23-6) after the 4-A title game at 4:30 p.m. today at Dodger Stadium.

To do so, Cerritos (26-6) will have to shut down a high-powered offense that boasts seven starters batting better than .300 and has produced 57 hits and 57 runs in four playoff games. Mark Mattingly (10-2), a senior right-hander, will start for the Cerritos. Mattingly, who has three wins and a save in four playoff games, has lost only to Westminster, a 7-4 winner over Hart in March, and Lakewood, ranked 13th in the nation by USA Today.

Center fielder Cobi Cradle, a three-year All-San Gabriel Valley League selection, is batting .470 and has 23 steals. Cradle, who has signed with Long Beach State, is one of seven starting seniors.

Cradle is joined by Robert Hinds, a UCLA-bound shortstop who is batting .390 and has 29 steals. Second baseman Curt Knabe is batting .410.