Tight-Knit Chaminade Armed and Dangerous

The spring is three seasons away, but an early favorite for the Mission League baseball title has been established.

Chaminade High, playing under the name of West Hills Chaminade in American Legion play, is 25-1, thanks primarily to a 1.02 earned-run average among its top three pitchers.

Coach Scott Drootin calls Bobby Paschal, T.J. Franco and Sean Clark his “three-for-the-money” pitchers, with good reason.

Paschal (7-0, 0.68 ERA), Franco (7-1, 1.40) and Clark (6-0, 2.12) have propelled Chaminade into the Southern California 17-and-under championship tournament, which starts today at La Palma Park.

Chaminade plays Garden Grove Bolsa Grande at 5 p.m. in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament.

“It’s like having three No. 1 pitchers,” Drootin said. “We’re very lucky to have them.”

Chaminade, which will advance to the state tournament in Yountville next week if it finishes among the top two in the Southern California championship, also has plenty of offense.

Senior outfielder Erik Johnson is batting .508 with 24 runs batted in and senior catcher Jimmy Milkovich has seven game-winning RBIs.

Then there’s the non-baseball factor. Drootin said the reason for Chaminade’s success has been its cohesiveness.

“At six o’clock on most evenings when we’re not having practice, they’ll hit for fun in the cage or just sit around and talk,” Drootin said. “Then they’ll go to someone’s house and go swimming.

“I’ve seen some tight-knit groups, but this is the tightest I’ve seen.”

Chaminade, which has only three seniors, competed in the lower-level Division II this summer. Skeptics question whether the team would have been successful playing at the more-competitive Division I level. Not Drootin.

“The Camarillo team we played last week [in the Division II championship] would compete with most of the teams that played in Jackie Robinson Stadium [in the Area 6 championship],” Drootin said.

Besides, Drootin said, the concept of success is important regardless of level of play.

“You can’t pay enough to get the experience they’ve been getting,” he said. “You can’t put a price tag on it.”

It might be valuable enough for a Mission League title next spring.

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Van Nuys Show Ball suffered a surprising defeat against Ventura in the first round of the Area 6 playoffs but won its next four games to advance to the state 18-and-under tournament.

Van Nuys earned a trip to Yountville by defeating Valley Chatsworth, 9-7, in the Area 6 championship game on Sunday.

Van Nuys (29-2) scored seven runs in the seventh inning to beat Chatsworth (29-5) for the fifth time this season.

The 4-3 loss to Ventura was “a good wake-up call for our players,” said Coach Jody Breeden of Van Nuys. “We didn’t want to just roll over and let the season end.”

Van Nuys scored 55 runs in its next four games.

Van Nuys entered the bottom of the seventh trailing Chatsworth, 2-1, before shaking things up. Breeden, who normally coaches from the dugout, switched places with third-base coach Jeff Antoon.

“It was a superstitious thing,” Breeden said. “We do a lot of weird stuff.”

Van Nuys plays Danville in the first round of the double-elimination state tournament Saturday.

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Van Nuys could receive a boost this week with the return of right-hander Clint Kofmehl, who has been sidelined most of the summer resting his pitching arm. Kofmehl, who signed with Nevada, hopes to receive medical clearance today to resume pitching.