Roundup: Birmingham settles for soccer tie with El Camino Real en route to winning league title

Birmingham soccer coach EB Madha talks to team after 2-2 tie with El Camino Real on May 6, 2021.
Birmingham soccer coach EB Madha talks to his team after 2-2 tie with El Camino Real on Thursday. (Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

There's not too many times to celebrate a tie in soccer, but Lake Balboa Birmingham's 2-2 tie with Woodland Hills El Camino Real on Thursday clinched the Patriots the West Valley League championship and a No. 1 seed in the City Section Division I playoffs that begin next Friday.

It was a match with the intensity level of a City final and the overall quality of the play was tremendous. It was the first time Birmingham (12-0-1) trailed this season after El Camino Real received goals in the second half from Jose Coto and Tom Rabinovitch. The Patriots responded with a header from Enrique Pineda to tie the game, his second goal on the night.

Birmingham's David Diaz contributed the most spectacular assist in the first half, giving a flip back to Pineda, who drove the ball past goalie Kenny Palos.

"That was a very tough game but set us up nicely for the playoffs," Birmingham coach EB Madha said.

Said Diaz: "It was tough. They wanted it, but at the end of the day, we didn't lose. It was a wake-up call."

Baseball

Birmingham 3, Chatsworth 1: Ricky Martinez struck out seven in six innings and Gavin Taylor had two hits to help the defending City Section champs improve to 4-0 in the West Valley League.

Taft 4, El Camino Real 3: The Toreadors broke a long losing streak to their neighborhood rivals from Woodland Hills.

Granada Hills 4, Reseda Cleveland 1: The Highlanders improved to 4-0 in the West Valley League with an eight-inning victory. Will White had a key RBI single in the eighth.

Venice 7, Hamilton 4: The Gondoliers won the Western League game at Fairfax after being told they can no longer use their new campus baseball field because of a neighbor's complaint about balls heading onto the property.

Thousand Oaks 8, Westlake 2: Max Muncy hit a grand slam and Cody Carson shut out the Warriors for six innings to help the Lancers improve to 18-0.

Agoura 6, Westlake Village Oaks Christian 1: Matt Tamura pitched and hit the Chargers to victory.

Calabasas 4, Newbury Park 1: Chase Call hit his seventh home run and finished with three RBIs.

Corona Centennial 4, Corona Santiago 0: Chris Scovel struck out six and threw a two-hit shutout.

Corona del Mar 6, Laguna Beach 1: Matthew Decrona threw a complete game with six strikeouts.

Corona 6, Norco 5: Jon Dias picked up his fourth save for Corona.

King 13, Roosevelt 0: Jase Evangelista had two hits and three RBIs.

La Puente Bishop Amat 9, Santa Fe Springs St. Paul 7: Tyler White went four for five and Izaiah Ayala hit a home run for Bishop Amat.

San Clemente 2, San Juan Hills 1: Matt McGreevy had the walk-off single in the eighth.

Los Alamitos 6, Fountain Valley 0: The Griffins got a strong pitching performance from Joshua Donegan, who allowed three hits in 5 1/3 innings.

South Hills 7, Diamond Bar 1: Marcos Rosales went three for four.

Citrus Valley 11, Yucaipa 6: A nine-run fourth inning sparked Citrus Valley, which took advantage of five errors.

Softball

El Camino Real 8, Birmingham 2: Jillian Kelly struck out nine and Nahnny Sobetzko hit a three-run home run.

San Pedro 9, Carson 8: Jo Jo Krause's two-run home run gave San Pedro the dramatic walk-off victory.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 2, Woodland Hills Louisville 0: Ella Parker hit her ninth home run and also pitched the Knights into first place in the Mission League, inflicting a rare loss on pitcher Grace Luderer.

Sun Valley Village Christian 10, Pasadena Maranatha 0: Bree Brennan threw five innings, striking out 13.

Boys' basketball

Santa Clarita Christian 64, Heritage Christian 52: Tiago Soares scored 27 points in the win.

Girls' basketball

Studio City Harvard-Westlake 56, Palisades 34: Kiki Iriafen finished with 16 points.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.