Baseball: Chatsworth is top seeded for City playoffs
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For the sixth consecutive season, Chatsworth has been seeded No. 1 for the City Section Championship Division playoffs that begin on Wednesday. But the Chancellors (25-5) don’t have an easy road after an interesting seeding meeting on Saturday.
The Chancellors were put in the same bracket as No. 4 Kennedy and face a challenging second-round game against the winner of the Palisades-Banning game. Chatsworth will open at home against No. 16 Poly.
The best first-round matchup figures to be No. 14 Taft (12-17) and its ace pitcher, Ryan Santhon, facing No. 3 Roosevelt (31-5-1) and its ace pitcher, Martin Villanueva, at East L.A. College.
I like the draw for No. 6 Cleveland (24-7-1), which is out of Chatsworth’s bracket and opens against No. 11 San Fernando (16-14). And No. 10 El Camino Real is my clear favorite to pull off the first upset of the tournament against No. 7 Verdugo Hills.
Here are the first-round pairings:
No. 16 Poly (18-12) at No. 1 Chatsworth (25-5); No. 9 Banning (20-10-1) at No. 8 Palisades (19-11-1); No. 12 San Pedro (13-15) at No. 5 Marshall (26-4); No. 13 Grant (17-9) at No. 4 Kennedy (20-10).
No. 14 Taft (12-17) at No. 3 Roosevelt (31-5-1); No. 11 San Fernando (16-14) at No. 6 Cleveland (24-7-1); No. 10 El Camino Real (18-13) at No. 7 Verdugo Hills (22-10); No. 15 Sylmar (13-12) at No. 2 Narbonne (24-6).
The final is set for noon on May 31 at Dodger Stadium.
-- Eric Sondheimer