Baseball: West Valley is Big East for City Section

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There could be five teams from the six-team West Valley League making the City Section Division I playoffs this season in baseball. That’s how good the league is from top to bottom. It’s like the Big East Conference in basketball.
League play begins on Tuesday, and Chatsworth (11-3) deserves the favorite role, especially if left-hander Aaron Brown is healthy. He started the season sick, but his 13-strikeout performance earlier this week in Las Vegas is a clear sign he’s ready to take charge.

But the Chancellors aren’t going to simply walk through the competition. The other five schools have enough talent to be competitive. Birmingham (9-4), Taft (9-4), Granada Hills (7-5), Cleveland (6-7) and El Camino Real (5-8) have all demonstrated that on a given day, they can rise up and play well.

Chatsworth lost to Granada Hills Kennedy, but Granada Hills and El Camino Real have each beaten Kennedy. As far as top pitchers in the league, Kevin Torres from Birmingham and Jose Cardona from El Camino Real rank near the top, Granada Hills has All-City player Bryce Kelly and Taft has an improving Zach Friedman.

But if Brown and Chatsworth’s No. 2 pitcher, Christian Lopez, perform well, the Chancellors will be tough to beat. Sophomore Ricky Obando has helped replace the injured Derek Neely at first base.

Coach Tom Meusborn knows the league is tough.

‘I think there are a lot of teams playing well, and it’s going to be a dog fight every game,’ he said.

Tuesday’s openers include El Camino Real at Taft, Birmingham at Chatsworth and Granada Hills at Cleveland.

-- Eric Sondheimer