Katella Title Run Unlikeliest of All

Of the eight teams trying to win a Southern Section baseball championship Saturday at Dodger Stadium, no team was a bigger underdog than Anaheim Katella.

With 13 losses and facing the lone top-seeded team left on the final day of the season, Katella was supposed to lose and be grateful for a second-place finish in Division III.

Instead, it was the Knights and unsung pitcher Sean Kalmen celebrating after a 3-0 victory over defending champion Encino Crespi.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Kalmen, who gave up seven hits, struck out seven and walked one. “I’m floating right now.”

Katella pitchers came through with shutouts in four of five playoff games, three by Kalmen (8-3), a senior right-hander who almost saw his season end in March when he was struck in the head by a ball during a freak accident in practice.

“With his heart and desire to play with his teammates in his senior year, he wasn’t going to let anything stand in the way,” Coach Carlos Ayala said.

Katella’s championship is no fluke, not after the way the Knights treated Crespi’s Trevor Plouffe (12-2), who has signed with USC and figures to be a high pick in Monday’s amateur draft.

Plouffe twice came up with two runners aboard. Each time Kalmen handled him with ease, striking him out and getting him to fly out on a foul ball.

“I’m not afraid of anybody,” Kalmen said.

Katella’s batters also ignored Plouffe’s 6-0 record in the playoffs over two seasons, aggressively attacking from the opening pitch to score three runs in the first inning.

Plouffe, who gave up 10 hits, offered no excuses afterward.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know what went wrong,” he said. “I had two big opportunities and went down. [Kalmen] threw strikes. I’m impressed he shut us down for seven innings.”

Katella (18-13), which last reached a section final in 1972, scored all its runs with two out. Ethan Haller, batting .274, supplied the key hit -- a two-run, two-strike double.

“After the first couple of pitches, you could see we were going to be in trouble,” said Coach Scott Muckey of Crespi (27-5). “They did a good job with their at-bats.”

Upsets happen when a pitcher rises up to defy the odds. Kalmen left Dodger Stadium having brought an improbable championship to his school because of his focus, determination and ability to handle pressure situations.

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Not since Philadelphia Phillies’ pitcher Randy Wolf was beating Chatsworth in consecutive City Section finals in 1993 and 1994 for Woodland Hills El Camino Real has there been a better championship matchup than Tuesday’s game at Dodger Stadium between Chatsworth (34-0) and San Pedro (31-3).

Second-seeded San Pedro has won 26 consecutive games. Top-seeded Chatsworth has a state-record 49-game winning streak over two seasons.

San Pedro right-hander Matt Kretzschmar is 11-0. Chatsworth right-hander Jason Dominguez is 12-0.

“They have unbelievable heart, passion and confidence,” San Pedro Coach Grady Sain said of his players.

Chatsworth players can’t wait to prove they are as good as their unbeaten record suggests. “We’re excited about the challenge,” Dominguez said.

Chad Boyd, El Camino Real’s All-City outfielder who hit a two-run home run in a 7-5 semifinal loss to San Pedro, offered this opinion: “It’s whether Chatsworth can hit Kretzschmar. I’d pick Chatsworth because they find a way to win.”

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Final baseball observations:

Most impressive freshmen: 1. Third baseman Matt Dominguez, Chatsworth; 2. Pitcher Ryan Dent, Long Beach Wilson; 3. Pitcher Brett Hambright, Lake Elsinore Temecula Valley; 4. Center fielder Matt Flaig, Placentia El Dorado; 5. Outfielder Andrew Lambo, Reseda Cleveland; 6. Third baseman Victor Sanchez, Cerritos Gahr; 7. Pitcher Rob Rasmussen, Pasadena Poly; 8. Pitcher Michael Manning, Santa Barbara.

Most impressive sophomores: 1. Catcher Hank Conger, Huntington Beach; 2. Pitcher Alex Curry, Villa Park; 3. Shortstop Danny Garcia, Nogales; 5. Pitcher Jake Rodriguez, Whittier; 6. Third baseman Chad Gross, Claremont; 7. Shortstop Nathan Bridges, Villa Park; 8. Pitcher Hector Rebago, Riverside Poly; 9. Third baseman Jordan Lowe, Palm Desert; 10. Jeremiah Mejia, Riverside Arlington; 11. Outfielder Gabe Cohen, North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake; 12. First baseman Casey Haerther, West Hills Chaminade.

Most impressive juniors: 1. Pitcher Ryan Tucker, Temple City; 2. Catcher Bryan Anderson, Simi Valley; 3. Catcher Landon Hernandez, Palm Springs Desert Chapel; 4. Shortstop Brandon Laird, Westminster La Quinta; 5. Shortstop Trevor Bell, Crescenta Valley; 6.; Outfielder Jeff Bowden, San Bernardino; 7. Pitcher Doug Blum, Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley; 8. Pitcher Thomas Milone, Saugus; 9. Shortstop Eddie Murray, Gahr; 10. Shortstop Daniel Espinosa, Santa Ana Mater Dei; 11. Third baseman Shaun Lane, El Dorado; 12. Second baseman Blair Dunlap, Santa Margarita; 13. Pitcher Tyler Fick, Newhall Hart; 14. Pitcher Jeff Roth, Huntington Beach Ocean View.

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com