Koh Comes to Terms With Chatsworth Style

Joe Koh has come up with a term to describe his American Legion team’s style on the field, but don’t look for it in the dictionary.

“I guess you could say today was ‘Southern California baseball,’ ” Koh, the Chatsworth coach, said Tuesday after his team had sauntered past Sepulveda, 4-2, in a District 20 game. “We would rather rag our own team than our opponents.”

Southern California baseball, apparently, consists of equal parts confidence, talent, hazing and television. Chatsworth players exhibited that “style” by watching the first half of the Los Angeles Laker-Detroit Piston NBA championship Game 7 on the bench and razzing teammates en route to the team’s 10th win in 12 games.

Koh says his job with the Chatsworth squad is to keep the team loose, especially with more than one competition on the players’ minds. Saturday, Chatsworth plays in the quarterfinals of the L. A. Games. Koh said that that game has him preoccupied.

But Tuesday was Fun Day.

Leading, 4-1, starter Pierre Amado (2-1) was replaced by designated-hitter Rex McMackin. Koh said Chatsworth must save its pitchers because a win Saturday would put the team in an afternoon semifinal contest. The championship is scheduled for Sunday.

Once McMackin entered, the players on the bench--pausing from their TV viewing--began to jeer him. McMackin allowed one run on Joe Chaparro’s RBI single, but catcher Mike Mancuso threw out Chaparro trying to steal second.

Amado had just one rocky inning--the second--when he hit Sepulveda’s Tim Costic, who later scored on Dave Waco’s error. But that was all Sepulveda (5-6) could muster against Amado.

Chaparro had the only hit off Amado, a harmless single after the run had scored. Amado retired 12 of the next 13 batters and was never threatened.

It took two innings for Chatsworth’s offense to get started. But in the second, Rich Aude and Ty Powell both reached on an error. One out later, Derek Wallace doubled, scoring Aude. Mancuso followed with a shot at first baseman Roland De La Maza, who threw to the plate, but Powell slid under Adam Clark’s tag.