Friday, May 23, 2008
The Chancellors continue pursuit of another City Section Championship Division title with a second-round game today at 3 p.m. at Chatsworth.
ABOUT CHATSWORTH: The Chancellors (26-5), seeded No. 1 in the City Section playoffs for the sixth consecutive year, are on an nine-game winning streak and have won 17 of 18 games … Chatsworth is aiming to break a tie with Fremont and Kennedy for most City titles. Each has seven … Senior second baseman Matt Moreno, senior first baseman-pitcher James Wharton, junior catcher Carlos Escobar Jr., junior shortstop Kasey Toven and junior outfielder Andy Weissberg are looking to participate in their third City final at Dodger Stadium … Senior Trevor Takeyama has a 15-2 career record (two seasons) ... The Chancellors have reached at least 25 victories for 11 consecutive seasons … From 2000 to the present, the Chancellors have won 26 Championship Division playoff games, more than any other team. Kennedy is second with 16 and El Camino Real is third with 15 ... The Chancellors won the WVL title for the sixth year in a row and 27th overall.
ABOUT PALISADES: The No. 8-seeded Dolphins are 20-11-2 overall and were champions of the Western League with a 14-1 record. They are coming off a 3-2 win over No. 9 Banning in the first round and are on a four-game winning streak.
SERIES VERSUS PALISADES: Since 1980, the Chancellors are 6-2 against the Dolphins, including an 11-1 victory in the City Section Championship Division semifinals last season. The Chancellors are 3-2 against the Dolphins in the playoffs.
COACH TOM MEUSBORN: In his 19th season with the Chancellors, his record of 488-96-3 (.836 winning percentage) is the best ever in the state for a coach with 100 victories or more … Meusborn has won six City titles and is tied for first place on the all-time list with Les Haserot, who won six with Fremont between 1939 and 1948 … Meusborn’s record in the playoffs is 51-12.
CHATSWORTH’S ALL-TIME RESULTS IN PLAYOFFS (championship years in bold): 1963-68 — did not qualify; 1969 — Roosevelt W 10-0, Lincoln L 5-4; 1970-71 — dnq; 1972 — Carson W 10-3, Manual Arts W 7-3, Venice L 2-1; 1973 — dnq; 1974 — Carson L 6-4; 1975-78 — dnq; 1979 — Banning W 3-0, Crenshaw L 11-3; 1980 — dnq; 1981 — Huntington Park W 10-2, Grant W 6-3, Banning L 5-1, Sylmar L 1-0 (third-place game); 1982 — Fremont W 4-1, Franklin W 13-0, Palisades L 9-7, Banning W 5-3 (third-place game); 1983 — Fairfax W 9-0, San Pedro W 7-0, Granada Hills W 7-2, Sylmar W 8-7 (final); 1984 — San Pedro W 19-5, Banning L 3-0; 1985 — Gardena W 4-3, North Hollywood W 4-1, Kennedy L 4-2; 1986 — Sylmar W 8-5, San Fernando L 10-4; 1987 — North Hollywood W 16-5, Kennedy W 5-1, Poly L 6-4; 1988 — Gardena W 28-5, Sylmar W 7-3, San Fernando L 5-2; 1989 — Gardena W 9-1, Grant W 11-6, Palisades L 9-8; 1990 — Carson W 6-1, Palisades W 11-0, Taft W 6-1, El Camino Real W 3-2 (final); 1991 — Carson W 11-0, Poly L 17-1; 1992 — Sylmar W 4-2, Venice W 7-4, Poly L 3-2; 1993 — Venice W 10-0, Sylmar W 4-1, Taft W 17-1, El Camino Real L 7-6 (final); 1994 — Grant W 3-0, Birmingham W 11-10, Taft W 5-0, El Camino Real L 7-6 (9) (final); 1995 — San Pedro W 4-1, Banning L 6-3; 1996 — University W 6-5, Carson W 6-4, Poly L 6-4; 1997 — Reseda W 16-9, Cleveland W 9-5, El Camino Real L 9-6; 1998 — Van Nuys W 8-0, Monroe W 9-7, Kennedy W 5-2, El Camino Real L 5-2 (final); 1999 — San Pedro W 13-1, Roosevelt W 5-4, South Gate W 12-2, Poly W 17-7 (final); 2000 — Grant W 4-2, Kennedy L 11-4; 2001 — University W 4-0, Narbonne W 2-1, Banning W 4-0, Roosevelt W 2-1 (final); 2002 — Kennedy W 2-1, El Camino Real W 13-6, Cleveland L 4-0; 2003 — Fremont W 12-0, Kennedy W 2-0, Banning W 4-3, Carson W 3-0 (final); 2004 — Narbonne W 7-3, Sylmar W 6-4, Kennedy W 10-7, San Pedro W 7-1 (final); 2005 — Fremont W 11-0, Palisades W 5-4, South Gate W 15-5, El Camino Real L 5-1 (final); 2006 — Verdugo Hills W 7-0, Banning W 11-1, San Fernando W 14-0, Kennedy L 4-2 (final); 2007 — Garfield W 13-1, El Camino Real W 8-1, Palisades W 11-1, Cleveland W 2-1 (final); 2008 — Poly W 1-0.
JUNIOR VARSITY: The Chancellors (22-6) travel today to El Camino Real for a second-round game of the playoffs at 3 p.m. Chatsworth defeated No. 16-seeded Westchester, 8-2, Tuesday in a play-in game needed to correct the fact the Chancellors were left out of the tournament in the seeding meeting despite finishing in second place in the WVL. The Chancellors beat top-seeded Roosevelt, 9-5, Wednesday in a first-round game.
File photo: James Wharton
Photo by Dave Siegel