Crossroads Passes SternTournament Test:

The Crossroads baseball team won seven of its first eight games, but co-coach Pat Armstrong wanted to see how his team would do against more formidable opposition before reaching any conclusions.After Crossroads won two of three games in the Vasquez Tournament Armstrong arrived home quite pleased.”It didn’t begin well but ended very well,” he said.Crossroads lost to Santa Ynez, 12-1, but came back to defeat Southwestern Christian of Walnut, 7-3 and Hawthorne, 6-3.Hawthorne is a member of the Ocean League and has a victory over Santa Monica this season.Armstong attended Hawthorne’s second meeting against Santa Monica and as he saw the Cougars build a 7-3 lead before eventually losing, 8-7, he remarked that Hawthorne would be a tough opponent for his team.However, after Crossroads won Armstrong commented on the value of scouting an upcoming opponent.”Preparation really helps,” he said.Crossroads had losing records each of the last two years but is 9-2 now as it awaits a challenging Alpha League schedule.