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Baseball: Mike Moustakas, the pride of Chatsworth High

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It was 29 years ago when pitcher Bret Saberhagen, a former City Section player of the year from Reseda Cleveland, led the Kansas City Royals to a world championship over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Now another former City Section player of the year, Mike Moustakas, a third baseman from Chatsworth High, has helped the Royals reach this year’s World Series after Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. He has four home runs during the postseason when the Royals are 8-0. He made a couple dazzling defensive plays in Tuesday’s 2-1 win over the Orioles and he assisted on the final out, a ground ball, to end Wednesday’s game.

Enjoying it all is Moustakas’ former high school coach, Tom Meusborn, who’s been glued to his television.

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“It’s exciting,” Meusborn said. “It’s fun watching Mike play. I’m not surprised. You can tell he’s locked in. He’s the same guy I watched for four years in high school. It’s the same energy.”

Moustakas set a California state record for career home runs at Chatsworth with 52. He was taken No. 2 overall by the Royals in the 2007 draft.

He’s well prepared for playoff pressure, having played at Dodger Stadium for Chatsworth during four years of City finals.

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“He’s been there,” Meusborn said of playoff pressure.

Twitter:@LATSondheimer

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