CHATTER: CAN CHATSWORTH RETURN TO ITS BEST IN BAD SITUATION?Byline: Lee Barnathan Staff Writer Tom Meusborn said his Chatsworth baseball players feel good about themselves. Good thing, because one wouldn't know it by the way they're playing. After being ranked No. 1 in USA Today USA Today National U.S. daily general-interest newspaper, the first of its kind. Launched in 1982 by Allen Neuharth, head of the Gannett newspaper chain, it reached a circulation of one million within a year and surpassed two million in the 1990s. and Student Sports' national polls, the Chancellors finished in third place in the West Valley League. Once, there was talk about whom defending champion defending champion n (SPORT) → defensor/a m/f del tÃtulo defending champion n (Sport) → champion(ne) en titre Chatsworth would play in the City Section final at Dodger Stadium • • [ . As the City drew up its playoff bracket Monday night, the question was would Chatsworth even get a first-round home game? The answer was yes. Chatsworth earned the sixth seed. ``We'll take what we get,'' Meusborn said. Maybe it's not as bad as it seems. Of Chatsworth's five losses, four were by one run. The line drives that fell earlier in the season aren't falling now. And the mental mistakes are more costly now than before. ``It's tougher to win when you're supposed to win every game,'' Meusborn said. He wasn't making excuses, yet one wonders if the negative momentum will carry into the playoffs. There were other questions that were to be answered Monday. Will Cleveland of Reseda, winners of two of the past three Invitational titles, play in the City bracket? Who will be seeded first? And will there be enough time to finish? Cleveland finished fourth in the West Valley League but beat Chatsworth three times. The league usually places three teams in the City bracket. So leave spots for El Camino Real El Camino Real (Spanish for The Royal Road or The King's Highway) was the name of a series of pre-automobile highways linking the various New World colonies of Spain:
Working in Cleveland's favor is how weak the other leagues were this year. And the Cavaliers earned the 15th seed and travel to Roosevelt on Friday. As for the top seed, it would have been easy had Chatsworth won. It could have been El Camino Real. But the City likes to seed teams based on head-to-head play. Sylmar and Roosevelt beat ECR ECR Efficient Consumer Response ECR European Congress of Radiology ECR Electron Cyclotron Resonance ECR El Camino Real (Kings Highway; California) ECR Electronic Cash Register ECR East Coast Radio (South Africa) , albeit early in the year. If the coaches had taken into account recent play, ECR is it. Instead, Sylmar was awarded the No.1 seed and Roosevelt got No. 2. The coaches didn't have much time to argue; they didn't have that luxury. The meeting began at 4:30 p.m., two hours earlier than usual, to accommodate coaches and City officials who had to be at Dodger Stadium for a meeting in which City students would be nominated for awards under the State CIF's ``Victory with Honor'' program. They finished on time. ... Former Van Nuys volleyball player Jenna Panatier has been named head coach at Colgate. Panatier played for the Wolves in 1992-94 and previously coached at Occidental, turning a 2-20 team into a 16-9 team. ... Royal of Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. boys' soccer coach Andy Silva has resigned to spend more time with the Grace Brethren softball program that he has run for two years. Silva coached Simi Valley and Royal to nine Marmonte League The Marmonte League is a high school sports league primarily made up of schools from Ventura County. The Marmonte Leauge is part of the CIF Southern Section. Click here to view the league schedule. titles, 13 playoff appearances and two section finals since 1979. Former Royal coach Kevin Corley, who led the Highlanders to the 1997 and 1999 Division I championships, will return. STATILICIOUS DOMINATION TIME The City baseball playoffs begin Friday. The Valley has won every 4-A (City) title except one since 1973 (San Pedro won in 1992). So far, only six Valley teams haven't won since 1939. Of these, Taft (1974) and Poly ('78, '87, '92, '96, '99) have reached the final. Reseda, Eagle Rock, Verdugo Hills and SOCES SOCES Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies are the only schools not to at least reach the final. 6* - Kennedy (1981, '85, '89, '95-96, 2000) 5 - Granada Hills (1975-76, 1978-79, '84) 4 - El Camino Real (1993-94, 1997-98); Chatsworth ('83, '90, '99, 2001) 3 - Birmingham ('64, '66, '69), Cleveland ('65, '77, '82), Monroe ('71, '74, '88) 2 - Sylmar ('73, '80) 1 - North Hollywood (1957), Van Nuys (1959), Grant (1986), Canoga Park (1987), San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. (1991) City leader: Fremont - 7 (1939, '42-43, '46-48, '63) *-Tied with Dorsey (1940-41, '45, '50, '54, '58) ATHLETES OF THE WEEK STEPHANIE SAVRE Sophomore Westlake softball Savre accounted for the Warriors' runs in Friday's 2-0 Division II playoff victory at Crescenta Valley The Crescenta Valley is a small inland valley in Los Angeles County, California. Its name derives from its crescent-like shape, with the convex portion facing roughly northeast and the concave portion southwest. of La Crescenta. The victory put wild-card entry Westlake into the second round at 3:15 today against visiting California of Whittier. Savre was 2 for 3 with two doubles, an RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in and a run. She's batting .360 this season. ``Things are going really good. I was happy with my performance,'' Savre said. ``I think we have a good chance to keep winning.'' BLAKE NELSON Senior Oak Park baseball The four-year varsity starter was key in helping the Eagles reclaim the Tri-Valley League title and Friday he gave them a good start in their quest for Verb 1. quest for - go in search of or hunt for; "pursue a hobby" quest after, go after, pursue look for, search, seek - try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of; "The police are searching for clues"; "They are searching for the a Southern Section title. Nelson hit for the cycle, had seven RBI and scored five runs in Oak Park's Division IV 20-2 first-round victory over Cathedral of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . The home run was Nelson's eighth of the season, setting the school single-season record. With the victory, the Eagles (20-4) advanced to today's game at Alemany of Mission Hills. Nelson, a catcher who is batting about .450, plans to continue his career at the University of San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. . UP AND COMER RYAN HALIDAY Hillcrest Christian-Granada Hills Haliday, 13, has it in his genes. His mother, Debbie Willey, played basketball at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX . At Hillcrest, the 5-foot-11 Haliday averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Nominate other outstanding junior varsity or middle school athletes by calling (818) 713-3611. HEAD 2 HEAD Matchup of the week: HEATHER ERICKSON Royal Center fielder CHANEL TRIPP TRIPP Teaching Resource for Instructors in Prehospital Pediatrics Rio Mesa Pitcher One of the region's best leadoff hitters looks to provide a spark against perhaps one of the area's most dominating pitchers in a Division II playoff game. Royal has beaten Rio Mesa twice this season, both by scores of 1-0. Erickson, one of several key freshmen and sophomores in Royal's starting lineup, is batting .438. Tripp (14-5), a senior right-hander who has committed to California, struck out 19 in a 3-2, 16-inning victory over Buena of Ventura in the first round of the playoffs Friday. Today, 3:15 p.m. at Rio Mesa in Oxnard. CAPTION(S): 5 photos, 5 boxes Photo: (1) STEPHANIE SAVRE (2) BLAKE NELSON (3) RYAN HALIDAY (4) HEATHER ERICKSON (5) CHANEL TRIPP Box: (1) STATILICIOUS (see text) (2) ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (see text) (3) UP AND COMER (see text) (4) HEAD 2 HEAD (see text) (5) ON DECK: Highlights of the coming week |
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