OXNARD - The Palmdale Little League Senior Division team continued its torrid run to open play at the Division III North tournament at Rio Mesa High School on Monday night.

Palmdale defeated Alhambra American 8-1 on Monday to move into the championship round of the six-team, double-elimination tournament.

Palmdale now waits until 5 p.m. Wednesday to play against a team to be determined. That team would have to knock off Palmdale twice in order to prevent the District 51 champs from moving on to this weekend's Division III (Southern California) championship event.

And the Palmdale All-Stars (7-0) so far have rolled through foes with a 33-6 scoring advantage in three games.

On Monday, Anthony Rodriguez pitched a complete game, scattering nine hits over seven innings to allow just one run. He struck out and picked off one.

Rodriguez also was helped out by the defense of center fielder Mark Nunez, who in the fifth inning threw out two runners trying to get extra bases. First, he threw to Marco Delgado at third to peg a runner trying to go from first to third on a single, and he later threw home to catcher Allen Vigil to get a runner trying to score on a double.

Palmdale's offense generated 11 hits, including a three-run fifth inning that put the game away.

In the first, Dallas Rushing's sacrifice fly scored Nunez. In the third, Nunez singled and scored on a passed ball. In the fourth, Mauricio Sanchez drove in Alfredo Garcia to make it 3-0.

The fifth-inning spree came on one swing of Michael Alburez's bat. He doubled in two runs and caught the other team sleeping to take third and an uncovered home plate.

Palmdale closed scoring in the sixth as Rushing's single scored Nunez, and Delgado drove in Rushing.

Palmdale had opened the tournament with two 10-run-rule victories, 12-2 against Sunset from District 13 on Saturday and 13-3 against Orange from District 30 on Sunday.

That put Palmdale into the winners bracket final against Alhambra American, which had to play just one game prior to Monday.

In Saturday's game, Alburez struck out 13 in six innings while allowing just one run on five hits. Rodriguez closed and allowed one earned run on two hits in his one inning.

Palmdale's hitters got off to a fast start by being patient - scoring three runs in the first inning with one hit and six walks.

Delgado had three hits and scored twice for Palmdale. Rodriguez was 2-for-4, and he crossed the plate twice, as did Nunez, Sanchez and Alburez.

On Sunday, Palmdale used a relentless attack to beat Orange. The team scored at least once in every inning but the fourth.

Alburez homered in the third inning, and he also added a two-run triple in the first inning.

Rushing also had a triple in his three hits, and Sanchez had three hits and three runs scored.

Eric Umberger, who had two hits, handled the pitching for Palmdale, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks.

Rushing, at shortstop, was in on seven outs with assists or putouts.

B. Donis, C. Myers, M. Marshall, B. Chen, R. Taylor, A. Hult, J. Torres, S. TenBrink, J. Sanders, A. Gonzalez, C. Hult, C. Cabrera, M. Livingston