Well-Rested Chatsworth Bolts to Win

What’s all this talk about the strike and coaches’ boycott being a detriment? Don’t tell that to the members of the Chatsworth High pitching staff. As they see it, the two-week layoff is the best thing to happen to them.

In the first day of action among City Section 4-A Division teams since May 11 because of a coaches’ boycott stemming from the strike against the Los Angeles Unified School District, Chatsworth rolled a seven in the first inning and kept rolling to a 9-1 win over Gardena on Friday at Chatsworth.

The Chancellors (20-6) will play at home Tuesday in the quarterfinals against Grant, a 6-2 winner over Banning on Friday. Gardena finished 9-12.

Reed McMackin (8-2) pitched five innings of one-hit ball and struck out eight, and Derek Wallace threw two scoreless innings of relief, allowing a hit and walk, and ended the game with a pair of strikeouts.

Coach Bob Lofrano plans to start shortstop Jason Evans in Tuesday’s game, saying that even if Chatsworth was to advance to the championship game, Wallace, the team’s No. 1 pitcher with a 9-2 record, will start only one game next week.

Regardless of who Lofrano turns to, he likely will find a pitcher who has benefitted from the rest. The layoff helped ease a knot in the back of Wallace’s shoulder, and the senior right-hander said that he felt stronger Friday than he has since the start of the season.

“My arm felt refreshed and I was throwing harder than I expected,� he said. “I thought I would be wilder but that went well, too.�

McMackin also said he benefitted from the layoff, a statement he acknowledged was contradictory. He earlier had expressed disappointment with the coaches’ boycott, but was one of the first players to welcome Lofrano back.

“He talked with us before the game and there are no grudges,� McMackin said. “We’re all glad he’s back coaching us.�

McMackin worked on his conditioning by running two miles every day and he also pitched daily and worked on his mechanics during the strike.

“I felt out of shape and I was pitching badly at the end of the season,� he said. “I remembered things Lofrano had said to me about pitching and I think I’ve got things back.�

The only hit off McMackin was a bloop single in the fourth that barely eluded Evans in shallow left-center field, and Gardena’s only run was unearned, aided by errors by Evans and third baseman Rich Aude.

But those were the Chancellors’ only miscues. They turned two double plays and Evans made a nice play on a slow roller in the fifth.

“I was wondering whether we’d do the little things right after the layoff, and I thought it was a well-played game,� Lofrano said.

The Chancellors attacked sophomore left-hander Dane Woolwine (3-3) for seven runs on four hits, a hit batsman and three walks in the first. Designated-hitter Eric Johnson laced a bases-loaded triple and then scored on a single by Wallace for a 4-0 lead before Woolwine recorded an out. Evans capped the explosion with a two-run single.