Chatsworth Set for Key Baseball Series with El Camino Real

Here comes the baseball week everyone has been waiting for, as Chatsworth High plays rival El Camino Real in a two-game series that surely will prove decisive in the West Valley League standings, as both are tied for first place.

They play 3 p.m., May 4, at Chatsworth High, and again 3 p.m., May 6 at El Camino Real in Woodland Hills.

They’re the two most dominant programs in the City Section, as Chatsworth has won nine City titles (seven over the past 11 years), and El Camino Real has won six, including the 2010 championship.

What makes the rivalry especially intriguing is both have returned most of their best players from last year, when Chatsworth lost in the semifinals. The Chancellors have ace left-hander Aaron Brown and hard-throwing right-handers Steven Karkenny, Christian Lopez and Angel Rodriguez, and El Camino Real returns Jose Cardona, the reigning City Player of the Year.

Brown has signed with Pepperdine, and Cardona has signed with Cal State Fullerton.

First, Chatsworth needs to take care of business today at 3 p.m. against visiting Taft, which upset the Chancellors 8-7 on Wednesday – one of the few times over the past 20 years Chatsworth has lost to the Toreadors.

The defeat was Chatsworth’s second in a row, including an 11-8 loss to Alemany last week in the consolation championship of the National Classic at Cal State Fullerton.

Chatsworth also plays Saturday at 11 a.m. against Santa Barbara in a Chatsworth tournament game, but everyone has been pointing to the El Camino Real series for a long time, as the teams have waited until the second-to-last week of the regular season to renew their rivalry.

Last year, the teams split, with Chatsworth losing the first one 8-3 at El Camino Real, then winning 2-1 at home. In the loss at El Camino Real, Brown hit a towering home run off Cardona that is believed to be one of the longest home runs in City history, a shot that might have traveled as far as 500 feet in the air.

But Cardona and the Conquistadores got the last laugh, winning that afternoon and eventually claiming the City title. It will be interesting to see how things play out this time, especially when Brown steps in against Cardona, who is the scheduled starting pitcher Wednesday.

CHATSWORTH SOFTBALL READY FOR BUSY STRETCH

Chatsworth’s softball team plays at El Camino Real today at 3 p.m., part of a busy final stretch that sees the Chancellors play seven games over a nine-day period.

SIERRA CANYON BASEBALL TEAM FOCUSES ON IMPROVEMENT

Sierra Canyon’s baseball team continues to be up and down. After sweeping Marshall in a two-game series, the Trailblazers were swept by Brentwood this week to fall to 4-6-1, 2-4 in the Delphic League.

"The kids are starting to play as a team and do the little things that win ball games,” coach Bobby Bell said. “We're a young squad that's starting to put it together, and the program is building.”