De La Cruz Fences In Chatsworth : San Fernando Beats Chancellors for 4th Time in Row

Hector De La Cruz went cruising last Saturday night. His plans for the evening included a stop at a local drive-in movie theater, but first, the San Fernando High left-hander took a drive past Chatsworth’s revamped baseball field.

De La Cruz wanted to get a closer look at Chatsworth’s new left-field fence, which is only eight feet high and 310 feet down the line from home plate--half the height of the original fence and five feet closer.

“I had to see what it looked like,” said De La Cruz, who knew he was scheduled to pitch against Chatsworth on Thursday. “So I made sure to come by here first.”

After one look, he gave it an R rating, as in: “ Reall y close confines.”

Claustrophobic or not, De La Cruz carried a one-hit shutout into the seventh inning and San Fernando hung on to defeat Chatsworth, 7-4, in a Northwest Valley Conference game at Chatsworth.

It marked the Tigers’ second win over the Chancellors--ranked fifth in the nation by USA Today--in three days and fourth win in a row over Chatsworth, which had only seven hits in two games this week.

Have the walls come crumbling down on Chatsworth (17-4, 10-2 in league play), which has lost as many games in a week as it had all season and all of last year?

“I think we’re in one of those stretches,” Chatsworth Coach Bob Lofrano said. “Line drives are six inches foul and the hard shots are right at people.”

De La Cruz came right at Chatsworth, and, until the seventh, had allowed only a line single to center by Rich Aude in the first.

“I don’t know that he was throwing the ball that hard,” Lofrano said. “He was just spotting it and he had good movement.”

Chatsworth moved at a snail’s pace until the seventh, by which time the Chancellors trailed, 7-0. De La Cruz retired the first two batters in the final inning and was within an out of a shutout--the Chancellors have not been blanked since 1986--when Reed McMackin lofted a foul fly ball that right fielder Richard Avalos was unable to pull in.

“I was really hoping he’d get it,” De La Cruz said. “I was walking off the field.”

Walk soon became the operative word. McMackin, granted a reprieve, doubled to right-center. De La Cruz (6-0) then walked three consecutive batters to force in a run and prompt his removal.

“He showed a lot of poise,” San Fernando Coach Steve Marden said. “But he didn’t have much left. He was pressing, really pressing.”

“I don’t think I was out of gas,” said De La Cruz, a junior who is unbeaten (10-0) in two varsity seasons. “I think I just wanted to get it over with. I was too anxious.”

Anxiety did nothing but soar when junior reliever John Najar surrendered a run-scoring single to Vince Simili to bring Chatsworth to within 7-2. Najar followed by hitting both Aude and Derek Wallace to force in two more runs and cut the lead to 7-4.

Najar, however, finally ended the game by retiring Eric Johnson--who entered the contest as the area’s City Section leader with 29 runs batted in--on a popup on a 3-1 pitch.

San Fernando (15-3-1, 9-2-1) applied the pressure liberally in the early innings. Chatsworth starter McMackin (7-1) was driven from the mound to left field after 2 1/3 innings, having allowed four runs on five hits and four walks.

San Fernando shortstop Bobby Corrales drove in three runs against McMackin with a ground out in the first and a two-run single in the second to help stake the Tigers to a 4-0 lead. Corrales, a senior who had four RBIs in the two games against Chatsworth, now has 29 this year.

San Fernando scored three runs in the fifth against Chatsworth reliever Jason Evans, the first scoring on a single by Rich Sanchez. The Tigers added two more when Najar’s grounder to Simili at short was throw away at first, allowing Sanchez and Avalos to score for a 7-0 lead.

And although San Fernando barely hung on, Lofrano was ready to hand over the mantle.

“They’re the best team in the City,” he said. “They’ve got two good pitchers, they made the plays defensively and they had the timely hitting. In my book, they’re the favored team.”