Chatsworth, Birmingham hang on in semis
It has become clear in recent years that if you want to win a City Section baseball title, you need a pitcher to come out of the dugout late in the game and deliver a playoff victory.
Chatsworth and Birmingham deployed a similar strategy Wednesday and came away victorious by the identical scores of 2-1 to earn a trip to Dodger Stadium to face off in the June 3 Division I championship game.
Chatsworth defeated El Camino Real and Birmingham knocked off Cleveland.
Chatsworth’s late-inning hero was sophomore sidearmer Gabriel Achucarro.
Achucarro hadn’t pitched in weeks and was enjoying his time in the dugout watching left-hander Thomas Gutierrez cruise through the El Camino Real lineup in the first game of a semifinal doubleheader at USC.
Gutierrez (11-0) retired the first 17 batters and was holding on to a 2-0 lead. Then he walked Dane Reed with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, ending his perfect game. After another walk, Cole Kitchen ended the no-hitter with an RBI single, and coach Tom Meusborn called upon Achucarro, who got a groundout to end the threat.
In the top of the seventh, with the tying run on second, Achucarro struck out Jacob Gordon with one of his “spin” pitches to give Chatsworth the victory.
”I wasn’t really prepared for that,” Achucarro said. “But I knew I could do it.”
Alex Milone gave Chatsworth a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single off Elan Filous. Brandon Bohning added an RBI single in the fifth.
In the other semifinal, Armando Yanez of Birmingham had shut out Cleveland for 52⁄3 innings. Then Greg Conklin hit an RBI double, prompting Birmingham coach Matt Mowry to bring in left-hander Eddie Rosales. He got Sam Villa to fly out to end the threat.
In the seventh, Cleveland got a leadoff walk, but Birmingham picked up a double play because of runner interference on a bunt. And Rosales closed it out with a strikeout.
“It’s going to be tough to throw a complete game against any of these teams in the semifinals,” Mowry said. “In that situation, I’m going to go with my best. He got it done.”
Freshman Albert Garcia had an RBI single in the fourth and the other run scored on a wild pitch. Bryan Suppan struck out five in 31⁄3 shutout innings of relief for Cleveland.
Top-seeded Chatsworth will be seeking its ninth City title under Meusborn and 10th overall. The Chancellors haven’t won it all since 2009. Gutierrez gave up one hit in 52⁄3 innings, striking out four. It was vintage Chatsworth-El Camino Real. The two teams have combined to win 18 City baseball titles.
“It’s been like this forever,” Chatsworth catcher Daniel Zakosek said.
Now it’s Birmingham versus Chatsworth for the City title.
“It feels amazing,” Rosales said.