Cassel Pitches In as Chatsworth Turns Tables on Kennedy, 5-3

It came two months too late, but Chatsworth finally got the playoff victory it was looking for.

On May 30, top-seeded Chatsworth High was stunned by Kennedy, 11-4, in the City Championship baseball quarterfinals, putting an abrupt end to an otherwise spectacular season for the Chancellors.

When the teams met again Thursday in the American Legion District 20 playoffs with essentially the same lineups, give or take a few players, the final score was markedly different thanks to left fielder Brian Lee and pitcher Justin Cassel.

Lee had two run-scoring doubles and Cassel scattered eight hits in a 5-3 victory for Valley Chatsworth over Granada Hills Kennedy at Birmingham High.

Chatsworth will face Van Nuys Show Ball for the championship today at 4 p.m. at Birmingham.

The second-round Legion victory did not have the same impact as Kennedy’s upset in May, which propelled the Golden Cougars to the City Championship, but Chatsworth will take it just the same.

Besides, the future looks to be in good hands with Cassel, who will be a sophomore.

Cassel has athletic ability in his bloodlines--one brother, Jack, is a minor-league baseball player and another brother, Matt, is on a football scholarship at USC. Justin struck out five and had a shutout until the seventh inning.

“For him to go nine innings and have that kind of stuff is impressive,” said Coach Matt LaCour of Chatsworth. “It shows how much work he’s done and how much he’s improved this summer.”

Said Coach Andy Montes of Kennedy: “I thought he was done in the seventh [after giving up two runs] but he came back out in the eighth and then the ninth. He did a great job.”

Lee also did a solid job, hitting run-scoring doubles in the fourth and sixth innings, the latter giving Chatsworth a 3-0 lead. Chatsworth (19-4) built the lead to 5-0 later in the inning on a run-scoring double by Gregg Wallis.

Kennedy (17-6) closed to within 5-3 on a run-scoring single by Jesse Sepulveda with two out in the eighth, but did not get another hit.

“They got us down early,” Montes said. “But the guys didn’t give up.”

Chatsworth plays Van Nuys Show Ball today at Birmingham at 4 p.m. in the third round of the double-elimination tournament.

Kennedy plays Quartz Hill.

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AMERICAN LEGION PLAYOFFS

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

District 20

(18-and-under)

Van Nuys Show Ball 2,

Studio City Sylmar 0

Valley Chatsworth 5,

Granada Hills Kennedy 3

Quartz Hill 6,

Calabasas 4

Antelope Valley 19,

Van Nuys Birmingham 8

District 16

National League

Ventura 4,

Agoura 3

TODAY’S GAMES

District 20

Valley Chatsworth vs.

Van Nuys Show Ball

at Birmingham, 4 p.m.

Quartz Hill vs.

Granada Hills Kennedy

at Birmingham, 1 p.m.

Antelope Valley vs.

Studio City Sylmar

at Kennedy, 4 p.m.