Transfer Pitcher Gives Chatsworth a Yeomanly Effort

Jesse James, he isn’t.

He doesn’t possess that kind of gun.

But it didn’t take long before Jesse Yeomans, a senior pitcher at Chatsworth High, felt like a wanted man.

“I like him,” Kennedy Coach Manny Alvarado said. “He’s smart like a fox.”

Yeomans, a transfer from Reseda who gained eligibility earlier this month after clearing a series of hurdles with the City Section athletics office, made his first start for Chatsworth on Tuesday and responded in a big way.

Yeomans, a 5-foot-8, 155-pound right-hander, threw a two-hitter in a 9-1 Northwest Valley Conference victory over Kennedy. He struck out seven and walked three.

Among the most surprised was Chatsworth Coach Tom Meusborn, who predicted a week earlier that Yeomans would not be much of an impact player.

“Shows what us coaches know,” Meusborn said. “He mixes his speeds and throws from a couple of different angles. And in high school, that’s usually a good enough wrinkle to win some games.”

Next up for Yeomans is hard-hitting Granada Hills (7-0, 2-0 in league play). Last season at Reseda, Yeomans pitched well against Granada Hills before losing by narrow margins of 1-0 and 2-1. Yeomans, lobbying for another start, mentioned that fact to Meusborn, who made sure to trot out a few other historical facts.

“I said, ‘We faced you last year and you didn’t get out of the first inning,’ ” Meusborn said. “I gave it back to him pretty good.”

If senior right-hander Brandon Nickens regains his form of last spring, when he was 6-2 with a 1.21 earned-run average, Chatsworth might possess one of the best rotations around.

“I’d feel pretty good about throwing those two guys out there once a week,” Meusborn said.

Alvarado knows the feeling. After Yeomans baffled the highly regarded Kennedy offense, Alvarado found himself thinking out loud.

“I don’t know why he (transferred) there,” Alvarado said, laughing. “I wish I had him.”

Add transfers: Make no mistake, Chatsworth doesn’t hold the exclusivity rights to transfers. In the West Valley League, as the saying goes, fans can’t tell the players without a score card.

An updated score card at that.

West Valley League members Taft and El Camino Real also have benefited from transfers. In Taft’s case, it was gain one, lose one.

Mike Sweeney, a senior who transferred to Taft from Chaminade because of academic reasons, is batting leadoff and is 1-0 with a save as a reliever. Yet Taft two weeks ago lost the services of junior reserve John Novak, who transferred to league rival El Camino Real.

According to an El Camino Real administrator, Novak received an opportunity transfer because he was placed in some classes at Taft with his sister.

“His parents were unhappy about it and the school wouldn’t change the classes,” said Don Thomas, an assistant principal at El Camino Real. “Once the home school agrees to the transfer, it goes right through.”

In short, the transfer will not be subject to review by the City athletics office, Thomas said, and Novak became immediately eligible even though there was no change of address. Opportunity transfers normally are granted by the home school when students are in hot water and need a change of scenery and a second chance, Thomas said.

Coincidentally or not, Novak had been shuttled in and out of the lineup at Taft. He was used as a pinch-hitter last week against San Fernando.

“I knew he wasn’t real happy,” Taft Coach Rich McKeon said. “But based on my understanding of the (transfer) rules, I didn’t think anything would come of it.”

The strangest twist? Novak played on occasion at third base for Taft. If he earns the starting berth at third for El Camino Real, he will be replacing Danny Baker, a junior transfer from Canoga Park.

Repeat offenders: As Yogi once said, it was like deja vu all over again.

Crespi finished one-half game behind St. Paul last season in the race for the Mission League title. The Celts could have shared the championship with a victory in the season finale over rival Notre Dame, but the game ended in a sloppily played 13-13 tie, which Crespi Coach Scott Muckey claimed set the sport of baseball back several years.

A year later, Crespi picked up where it left off. In the Celts’ league opener Wednesday against St. Paul, Crespi stumbled, bumbled, fumbled and fell, 9-6.

Crespi (5-2, 0-1) faltered from the first inning, even with ace right-hander Jeff Suppan on the mound. Suppan jumped to an 0-and-2 count on the first batter, then hit him. Matters degenerated from there.

The Celts, ranked No. 2 in the region by The Times, blew a 5-4 lead in the seventh when St. Paul scored five times with two out. Crespi, shooting itself in the foot in more ways than one, stranded 11 baserunners.

Parting of the ways: Two teams from the potent North Valley League that have a common thread have been heading in opposite directions.

Several players from Cleveland and Granada Hills played on the same American Legion team last summer--the team was 17-8 in District 20 play--and both high schools entered the season with considerable senior talent.

Granada Hills (7-0, 2-0) has been in high gear from the first pitch, averaging 10.5 runs a game. The trio of Rob Weinzimer, Scott Berger and Heath McElwee are 36 for 64 (.563). Berger is 12 for 19 and has reached base 20 times in 27 plate appearances.

Conversely, Cleveland (4-2-1) has lost its first two games in Northwest Valley Conference play, despite numerous opportunities to turn the tide. In two losses last week to Taft, Cleveland scored four runs and stranded 23 runners.

Out of their league: Chaminade (3-4) needs to switch sections.

The Eagles, a Southern Section team, are 0-4 against their sectional brethren (Buena, Rio Mesa, Royal and Alemany) and 3-0 against City Section teams (Sylmar, Marshall and Hamilton).