Baseball: A City Section semifinal surprise

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The first part of a City Section Division I semifinal doubleheader at USC matching Chatsworth and Birmingham in game one is about to get started, and the big surprise is that Chatsworth has decided to start Christian Lopez on the mound instead of its ace, Angel Rodriguez.

The party line is that the Chancellors have three No. 1s _ Rodriguez, Lopez and Aaron Brown. Lopez was an All-City pitcher last season who was sidelined with a shoulder injury earlier this season.

But the fact is Rodriguez is 8-1 with an 0.66 ERA and shut out the Patriots earlier this season. So if Chatsworth wins, the Chancellors will have Rodriguez ready to go on Saturday at Dodger Stadium. But Birmingham pulled off an upset last season in beating Kennedy in the playoffs when the Golden Cougars saved their No. 1 pitcher.

Just something to think about if things don’t go well for the Chancellors.

-- Eric Sondheimer