CHATSWORTH — Chaminade baseball has solidified its place as one of the top teams in the Mission League midway through league play, and the Eagles are having fun doing it.
“The chemistry and the closeness of this group has pushed them to a different level,” Eagles coach Kyle Wilkerson said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve been (here), but they’re believing in themselves. They know this is real.”
Chaminade is on a seven-game win streak after beating Sierra Canyon 1-0 on Wednesday.
The Eagles shut out the Trailblazers 4-0 on Tuesday and can complete a three-game series sweep with a win Friday.
The Eagles (12-3 overall) are 7-2 in Mission League, behind first-place Harvard-Westlake (8-0-1 league).
Chaminade also beat Notre Dame in two out of three games this month and beat Loyola in back-to-back games as part of their win streak.
Wednesday’s game was scoreless through five innings before Isaiah Hearn came up with a big hit in the top of the sixth.
Sierra Canyon (8-6-2, 3-4-2) had brought in Armando Solorio to relieve Ethan Montes and Hearn singled down the first-base line on the first pitch he faced to drive in Carter Barnett, who had reached base with a single.
“Sometimes he’s a little tentative early in the count,” Wilkerson said of Hearn, “and I’m glad he got aggressive because he’s a dude.”
Efficient pitching kept Chaminade in the game for the first five innings. Eli Stephens, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, allowed only four base hits in 4 2/3 innings of work and struck out four. The defense as a whole went three-up-three-down in two innings.
Stephens is in his first year as a varsity starter for the Eagles and is thriving through his velocity and fearlessness. He owned a 0.66 ERA in his first 10 2/3 innings of the season.
“Our chemistry is amazing. I think that’s the biggest thing we have,” Stephens said. “I just go up there and throw strikes. I know I have great defense behind me. They’ve shown that the whole year…
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