Pitcher Root Digs In, Leads Chatsworth to 2-0 Win Over West

From all appearances, Mitch Root was not going to last long.

Root, the starter for the Chatsworth American Legion team, had allowed runners to advance to third in each of the first two innings Wednesday. Opposing pitcher Pat Treend of Woodland Hills West, on the other hand, had not given up a hit in the first two innings and appeared poised and dominating.

The struggling Root clearly needed his teammates to rescue him with some sparkling defense.

They did. Two double plays, diving and leaping catches in the outfield and one offensive spurt dug Root out of trouble. Gathering strength, he had enough good stuff to lead Chatsworth to a 2-0 District 20 win.

“I wasn’t trying to throw my hardest, I was just moving it on spots,” Root (2-0) said. “I got good defense from Tommy (Lee, the Chatsworth shortstop) and a lot of guys saved me. (Woodland Hills West) can hit the ball. I just tried to keep it down and get the double play.”

The meeting had the makings of a grudge match. Chatsworth (3-5) is composed largely of players from the Chatsworth High team that won the City Section 4-A Division championship. Most of the players for West watched Chatsworth celebrate its title at Dodger Stadium as members of the vanquished El Camino Real team.

Indeed, rather than two middle-of-the-pack Legion teams, Chatsworth and West looked more like the two top high school squads.

Righting himself after his early unsteadiness, Root needed only 71 pitches to go the distance; Treend threw just 64 in six innings.

“I don’t sleep sometimes after losses, but I’ll sleep like a baby tonight,” West Coach Don Hornback said. “There’s nothing you can do when you lose this kind of a game. Both teams were outstanding.”

When Root needed early help, two double plays bailed him out in each of the opening two innings. In fact, the defense was strong throughout, the best fielding display by Chatsworth coming during the fifth inning. Treend hit a fly ball deep into center field, but Chatsworth’s Scott Carpenter made a running over-the-shoulder catch. One out later, Lee dived toward second and picked off Chris Castillo’s scorching grounder, then threw to first for the out.

“We hit the ball hard, probably just as hard as they did,” Hornback said. “We just hit it at people.”

Chatsworth got untracked offensively in only one inning. In the third, left fielder Robert Garbo beat third baseman Del Marine’s throw for an infield single. After Lee popped up while attempting to bunt, Soly Maya hit a double to right, advancing Garbo to third. Then Scott Carpenter singled to center, scoring Garbo. Maya tried to score but was tagged out after Treend’s relay beat him to the plate. Greg Poll followed Carpenter with a long drive to right-center. Carpenter scored and Poll pulled into third with a triple.

“All it takes is one bad inning,” Treend (0-2) said. “A couple hits here and that’s all you need. One run, when a guy is pitching a good game that is all you need.”

Poll said that Treend “didn’t have as much on it in that inning. He might have let down . . . When I faced him, he missed on the first pitch so I was ready for him to hit with the second one. I just turned on it.”