Chatsworth Rallies Twice to Earn Berth in Semifinals

There was no surprising Chatsworth High on Thursday in the City Section 4-A Division baseball quarterfinals.

Nor was there any sneaking up on Chatsworth Coach Tom Meusborn after the Chancellors polished off visiting Venice, 7-4, to advance to Monday’s semifinal game against Poly.

Three times after the final out, Chatsworth players attempted to douse their coach with a bucket of ice water. Three times, Meusborn evaded the bucket brigade.

“They try that every game,” Meusborn said, standing amid scattered ice cubes. “They even do it in practice.”

The Chancellors (17-10), winners of 11 of their past 12 games, did it the hard way against Venice, coming from behind twice. They took the lead for good with two runs in the fourth, then added two more in the fifth.

Senior right-hander Eric Holliday (4-1) slammed the door on Venice’s surprising postseason run, retiring 13 of 15 batters--including the final eight in a row--in 4 2/3 innings of relief.

“It was tough,” said Holliday, who struck out two and walked one. “I just came in and threw strikes. The defense did all the work.”

Venice (14-11) had recorded postseason wins over Cleveland, 1-0, in a wild-card game and fourth-seeded Monroe, 2-1, in 12 innings.

“They weren’t going to sneak up on us,” Meusborn said. “We knew that they had beaten two quality clubs and that we were in for a dogfight. I don’t like getting behind by two runs in the first inning, that’s for sure.”

Venice scored twice with two out in the first inning against senior right-hander Jesse Yeomans. Geordie Straubing delivered a double to left field on a 1-and-2 pitch to drive in Ruben Mercado and Mike Morales.

Chatsworth scored a run in the bottom of the inning after Mark Lopez led off with a triple, then evened the score in the second on a run-scoring double by Lopez.

Venice chased Yeomans with two runs in the third. Holliday entered with one out and runners at first and second and walked a batter before escaping with a strikeout and an infield pop fly.

Chatsworth took the lead for good in the fourth on David Stevenson’s two-run single that drove in Matt LaCour and Bryan LaCour. In the fifth, Matt LaCour’s single knocked in Matt Gorman and Doug Dean.