Chatsworth Conquers, Shows Divide

The gap between Chatsworth and El Camino Real highs and the rest of the baseball teams in the West Valley League appears to be growing.

Never was the chasm more apparent than in a league game Tuesday afternoon at Granada Hills.

Chatsworth rolled to an 11-1 victory over the Highlanders in a game halted after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

Coach Tom Meusborn of Chatsworth tried to downplay the significance of the victory.

“There’s not that big of a gap,” Meusborn said. “They could come back and beat us the next time we play.”

But Coach Steve Thompson of Granada Hills admits there is a distinct difference between the teams. Chatsworth (10-1-1, 5-0 in league) is tied for first with El Camino Real after the first round of league play.

“The difference is (Chatsworth) expects to win and we hope to win,” he said. “They’ve got the killer instinct and we don’t have it yet.”

That was painfully obvious to Thompson early in Tuesday’s game.

In the first inning, Matt Fisher slammed a two-run home run over the 320-foot sign in left field.

That provided starting Chancellor pitcher Sean Richards (5-1) all the support he needed.

He finished with a four-hitter and had seven strikeouts.

The Chancellors added three runs in the third, four in the fourth and two in the fifth.

In addition to his home run, his sixth of the season, Fisher added a single in the third and drove in a run with a double in the fifth.

Fisher said he entered the game more relaxed after announcing Monday he would attend Oklahoma.

“It’s not so much a feeling of relief because I come out and play the same way all of the time,” Fisher said. “But it’s nice not to have that pressure on me any more.”

Thompson, who was junior varsity coach and an assistant under Meusborn at Chatsworth for seven years, fell to 0-7 against his former school since becoming coach of the Highlanders (7-5, 3-2).

“I honestly thought we had a chance today with what we had going,” he said. “Obviously it wasn’t the case. Chatsworth’s got better players and they executed better than we did.”

The Chancellors finished with 10 hits, including three by Gregg Wallis and two by Brett Munson.

Granada Hills didn’t help its cause by committing five errors.