Kunes Gets Closer to Perfection on Mound

From the time he took the mound and struck out the side in the first inning, it was an almost perfect afternoon for Mike Kunes of Chatsworth High.

The left-handed junior even managed to elude a impromptu postgame shower from teammates Scott Sellz and Chad Redfern following the Chancellors’ 8-0 victory over El Camino Real on Thursday afternoon at Chatsworth.

Kunes was dominant for Chatsworth (22-2, 11-1), which took a commanding lead in the West Valley League. The second-place Conquistadores trail Chatsworth by two games with five to play. El Camino Real began the week tied with Chatsworth but lost, 8-6, to the Chancellors on Tuesday.

Kunes (8-1) needed only 80 pitches to finish a two-hitter with eight strikeouts and no walks. He faced two batters over the minimum and didn’t throw more than 14 pitches in an inning.

“He was outstanding from the beginning,” El Camino Real Coach Mike Maio said. “I’ve been on the other side before and know what it’s like.”

Kunes’ heroics weren’t limited to pitching. As the cleanup hitter, Kunes had two doubles and three runs batted in.

Kunes even had two extra days rest. He was supposed to pitch on Tuesday but when shortstop Matt Fisher was suspended for one game, the Chancellors had to juggle their defense. Kunes moved to first base and Ismael Marin pitched and earned the victory.

“I would have liked to pitch against them in their yard,” Kunes said. “I got bumped back but it doesn’t matter to me.”

Kunes wasn’t the only thing working for Chatsworth, which played one of its most consistent games. The Chancellors scored in every inning but one and five of their nine hits went for extra bases.

The sixth inning was typical. After two fly-ball outs, the Chancellors, already leading 6-0, parlayed a single by Danny Eisenberg and doubles by Matt Cassel and Kunes into two additional runs.

“We didn’t want to let up on offense,” Eisenberg said. “We wanted to show that our first win wasn’t a fluke. [El Camino Real] made some errors but they didn’t give it away. We earned it.”

The Conquistadores (11-8, 9-3) never appeared comfortable. They didn’t have a baserunner until Matt Schwartz singled to lead off the fourth inning.

El Camino Real’s only real scoring chance came in the fifth. Kurt Birkins tripled to lead off, but was stranded as Mike Leduc hit a fly ball to left field, and Mike Grossman and Brian Somoza hit ground balls to third base.

Chatsworth scored twice in each of the first two innings. Kunes drove in Bryan Gant and Cassel with a double in the first and Eisenberg and Cassel had RBI singles in the second.

Chatsworth pushed the lead to 5-0 in the third after consecutive errors by third baseman Conor Jackson and second baseman Jesus Lopez.

Eisenberg, Cassel and Kunes each had two hits. Fisher returned to shortstop and had a double and scored a run.