Jared Karros of Mira Costa shows his family has more than hitters

At 6 feet 6 and 185 pounds, Jared Karros is nothing like his father, Eric, the 1992 National League rookie of the year with the Dodgers. Jared is the first pitcher in the family, and what a baseball player he might become.

In his first playoff start, Karros struck out 10 batters, didn’t walk any and led Manhattan Beach Mira Costa to a 2-1 victory over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Tuesday in the second round of the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.

“This is my second year ever pitching,” the UCLA-bound senior said. “I love it. I love the competition.”

He gave up an unearned run in the first inning. Mira Costa tied the score in the bottom of the first on a single by Dylan Dennis. The Mustangs took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on a single by Nick Carpino.

Karros kept throwing strikes, leaving Notre Dame with few scoring opportunities.

“I was impressed,” Notre Dame coach Tom Dill said. “I’m surprised he was so polished because that’s not what was told to me. I didn’t realize he was that good.”

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The one scare Karros got was in the seventh inning. With a runner aboard, Lucas Gordon sent a pitch to deep right field that was caught in front of the fence.

“I thought it was out of there,” Karros said, ‘’but no one hits home runs to right with the wind blowing in.”

Mira Costa advanced to a game Friday at No. 4-seeded La Mirada, which defeated Palm Desert 8-2. The Mustangs will have to face La Mirada ace Jared Jones.

Eric Karros sat quietly near the top of the Mira Costa bleachers. His other son, Kyle, had two singles for the Mustangs.

“He says he’s more nervous when I pitch than when he was in the playoffs in big the leagues,” Jared said.

Tuesday’s games did not get completed without controversy. Valencia West Ranch filed a protest with the umpires before the first pitch of its game against visiting Yucaipa, alleging the Thunderbirds violated the Southern Section rule banning pregame batting practice. Yucaipa won 1-0. West Ranch intends to submit video to the Southern Section, coach Casey Burrill said.

“I thought we were fine,” Yucaipa coach Ralph Grajeda said. “We were doing normal soft toss off to the side. We had four rows going. Nobody was throwing overhand. They took a video. I felt we were within the rule.”

Said Burrill: “We will accept whatever decision comes from CIF. It’s as clear-cut as can be. They put diagrams in the CIF rulebook. You can’t be at any angle.”

There was drama around the Southland. Aliso Niguel defeated Lake Forest El Toro 1-0 on a ninth-inning home run by David LeBoida. Quinn Mathews struck out eight batters in 3 2/3 innings of relief.

Huntington Beach pulled out a 2-1 win over La Puente Bishop Amat on a walk-off single by Jag Burg. Cypress defeated defending Division 1 champion Capistrano Valley 2-1 with a two-run home run by Luke Davis in the seventh inning.

Orange Lutheran pitchers have not given up any runs in 14 playoff innings after a 4-0 win over Palm Desert.

In Division 2, El Segundo defeated Arcadia 3-2 in 11 innings.

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Twitter: @latsondheimer