CITY BASEBALL SEMIFINALS: CHATSWORTH SHOWS NO MERCY, WINS CHANCELLORS HEADED FOR FINAL CHATSWORTH 14, SAN FERNANDO 0 (5).

Byline: HEATHER GRIPP Staff Writer

Any thoughts of SanFernando High's baseball team adding another improbable upset to its postseason run were put to rest by Chatsworth by the second inning of Tuesday's City Section semifinal.

The top-seeded Chancellors are headed to the championship game for the fourth consecutive year after a seven-run second inning propelled them to a 14-0 mercy-rule victory over visiting San Fernando. Chatsworth, which extended its winning streak to 12 games, faces No. 3 Kennedy of Granada Hills for the title Saturday at Dodger Stadium.

No. 12 San Fernando (17-13) had reached the semifinal by allowing just two runs in back-to-back upsets of No.5 Narbonne of Harbor City and No. 4 Roosevelt of Los Angeles.

Containing Chatsworth's offense proved far more difficult. The Chancellors (30-2), who moved up to sixth in the nation in the week's Baseball America rankings, finished with 12 hits despite batting in just four innings. Oliver Padre was 2 for 2, including his eighth home run of the season, with five RBIs.

Teammate Mike Moustakas was 3 for 4 with a double and two RBIs. Matt Dominguez added two hits and two RBIs, as did freshman designated hitter Andy Weissberg.

Every Chatsworth starter reached base at least once.

``We wanted to come out and play hard and score as many runs as we could early,'' Padre said. ``We didn't want to make it a close game, we wanted to show that beating us isn't easy.''

As if the Chancellors' offense didn't provide a big enough challenge for San Fernando, Chatsworth pitchers Trent Jones and J.P. O'Leary held the Tigers to just one hit. Jones (10-1) struck out six in four innings.

A second-inning single by San Fernando's Santiago Rodriguez was the first hit of the game and was followed by a walk by Alonso Garcia, but the Tigers did not have another baserunner the rest of the way.

Nine consecutive Chancellors reached base in the bottom of the second, chasing SanFernando sophomore left-hander Rafael Villafana (3-4) and providing a 7-0 lead. Chatsworth added five runs in the third inning, capped by Padre's three-run homer to right.

``That definitely makes life easier,'' Jones said of Chatsworth's biggest offensive output of the postseason. ``That was nice.''

Chatsworth scored two unearned runs in the fourth with the aid of two San Fernando errors. The shaky fielding was indicative of the Tigers' youth, which has San Fernando optimistic about the future now that the Tigers have experience against the best and graduate only one starter.

``This isn't the last time these guys will be here,'' San Fernando coach Armando Gomez said of his team that was in the semifinals for the first time since 2002.

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Chatsworth pitcher Trent Jones throws a pitch during Tuesday's 14-0 victory over San Fernando.

Gene Blevins/Staff Photographer

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