Chatsworth’s Powell a Big Hit in Lead Role

It didn’t take Chatsworth High baseball Coach Bob Lofrano very long Friday to find what he’d been looking for.

“We’ve been looking for a leader--someone to take the bull by the horns,” Lofrano said. “All week we’ve been stressing that--saying ‘Hey, someone step forward.’ ”

Someone did.

With one out in the first inning, Chatsworth’s Ty Powell hit the first pitch from Kennedy’s Colin Hines for a towering three-run home run to left field, capping a four-run inning that propelled the Chancellors to a 5-1 win in the quarterfinals of the City Section 4-A playoffs at Chatsworth. Chatsworth (19-6) plays Poly in a semifinal game Tuesday at a site to be determined Monday.

“He carried us,” Lofrano said of Powell. “We needed someone who was going to be aggressive with runners on base. That’s what it’s all about.”

Powell, who was 2 for 3 with 4 RBIs, also tripled to drive in a run in the fifth inning. But the junior center fielder was surprised at his emergence as the Chancellors’ spark plug.

“I haven’t been swinging the bat that good lately,” said Powell, whose last home run was a grand slam against Taft on March 24. “I’m just glad I was able to get up with guys on base.”

Kennedy, by comparison, showed little aggression with runners on base. The Golden Cougars (14-10-1) had the leadoff batter on base five times but scored only once, in the second inning, when Chatsworth third baseman Joel Wolfe threw wildly into right field, allowing Brian Roth to score from second. Kennedy stranded eight runners.

“We left too many people,” Kennedy Coach Dick Whitney said. “A couple of plays here and there and it could have been different. But they hung in there and made the plays.”

Chatsworth pitcher Pierre Amado kept Kennedy in check, aided by a defense that committed only one error. Amado (7-3) scattered seven singles--one in each inning--and never allowed a runner past second base after the second inning.

“He kept the ball around the plate and kept us off-balance,” Whitney said. “I wouldn’t say he’s a great pitcher, but he was better than we were today.”

Said Lofrano: “Pierre is our best pitcher and he showed that today. He scattered his hits and he didn’t get nervous.”

But the Chancellors’ hero, Lofrano said, was Powell.

“He had the three-run home run,” Lofrano said. “That’s the play of the game.”

Chatsworth started fast in the first inning. John Rubenstein singled home Wolfe to give the Chancellors a 1-0 lead. Powell followed with the home run, scoring Rubenstein and McMackin, who had walked.

“It was a curveball down and in,” Powell said of the home run pitch. “I was just able to put the good part of the bat on it.”