Chatsworth Eclipses El Camino Real, 4-3

Chatsworth High’s year of living dangerously continued Tuesday.

Gladly welcoming four El Camino Real errors and a close call that allowed the winning run to score, the Chancellors eked out a 4-3 victory Tuesday in the first meeting between the two teams since last season’s City Section 4-A Division final.

“It was a day of frustrations,” El Camino Real pitcher Randy Wolf said. “Must have been that eclipse.”

Probably not. The morning’s interruption of sunlight can’t explain El Camino Real’s dark day, which began with Wolf committing a three-base throwing error in the first inning, paving the way for Chatsworth’s 2-0 lead.

The hard luck culminated with the Chancellors scoring the winning run when the umpire ruled that Wolf missed touching first base on a double-play attempt that would have ended the fifth inning.

Wolf was arriving at first when he caught the throw from shortstop Matt Tays and and stabbed his foot at the base, appearing to complete the 3-6-1 double play.

But the umpire called hitter Brandon Murphy safe, which meant Rod Daryabigi’s trot home from third on the play broke a 3-3 tie.

“I thought he touched the base,” El Camino Real Coach Mike Maio said.

I did, said Wolf. “Unless that was a big, soft rock (I touched).”

But El Camino Real’s protests, as most do, went for naught, and Chancellor pitcher Jim DeBiase (8-1) shut down the Conquistadores the remainder of the game.

“The breaks keep going our way,” Chancellor shortstop Bryan LaCour said. “To be a successful team, you have to win these type of games.”

Chatsworth (22-3, 13-0 in conference play) has won 14 consecutive games, including seven by two or fewer runs, so the tight West Valley League victory was nothing new. The Chancellors win, even if it’s in underwhelming fashion. Only one of their four runs against El Camino Real scored on a hit.

El Camino Real (17-5, 9-4) scored in more impressive fashion. Wolf and first baseman Craig Carlton hit towering back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning to tie the score, 2-2. Four batters later, a single by Clint Marcus drove in Billy Burnette to give the Conquistadores a 3-2 lead.

But Wolf, who like DeBiase surrendered only four hits, could not hold the lead. “In order to beat a good team, you have to do everything right,” Wolf said. “Today we just didn’t have that.”