Baseball: Bluman leads El Camino Real past Chatsworth
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Mitch Bluman’s two-strike, two-out RBI single in the fifth inning broke a 1-1 tie and helped Woodland Hills El Camino Real defeat Chatsworth, 8-3, in a game for first place in the West Valley League at El Camino Real.
Chris Nicholson of El Camino Real and Aaron Brown of Chatsworth had hit home runs. Brown, a hard-throwing left-hander, was brought in to pitch in the fifth. Bluman fouled off a couple of pitches before hitting a line drive up the middle.
Jose Cardona (8-1) threw a complete game for the Conquistadores (15-10, 9-0), who moved ahead of Chatsworth (21-4, 7-1) in the West Valley standings going into a Thursday rematch at Chatsworth.
El Camino Real broke open the game with six runs in the sixth, including Bluman’s grand slam. Chatsworth pitchers also walked in two runs.
Bluman, who came in as El Camino Real’s leading hitter with a .449 average, also had a double. He’s expected to pitch on Thursday.
The game got heated at the end after Brown ran into first baseman Bluman running to first and then Cardona hit the next batter, Sean O’Connell. Cardona said afterward it was not intentional.
In another West Valley game, Steve Pincus lined a two-run single in the sixth inning to lift Taft to a 3-2 victory over Reseda Cleveland. Granada Hills defeated Birmingham, 6-5.
-- Eric Sondheimer