Notre Dame baseball sweeps series as Sierra Canyon adjusts to life in Mission League
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CHATSWORTH — Notre Dame baseball coach Tom Dill gave Sierra Canyon coach Tom Meusborn a loose wave and a smile as he headed toward the team bus. Meusborn smiled back and probably would’ve waved had he not been carrying a rake.
“We’ve coached a lot against each other in the last few years,” Dill said with a laugh. “He’s beat me way more than I’ve beat him. He couldn’t coach long enough, nor could I, for me to catch up.”
On this particular Friday, though, Notre Dame defeated Sierra Canyon 6-2 to complete a sweep of the Trailblazers in a three-game Mission League series.
This is Sierra Canyon’s first season competing in the Mission League, and despite the challenges, the Trailblazers (10-5-2 overall, 5-5-2 league) are fitting in and not just because of history between the coaches.
“It’s been exciting for us to get in and play some really good teams,” Meusborn said. “It’s a great experience for us to be a part of the league and you’ve gotta show up and compete every day and that’s what we’re learning.”
Meusborn is in his first year as head coach for Sierra Canyon. He previously built a powerhouse program at Chatsworth High School. He led the Chancellors to seven City Section title games in a row, from 2003 to 2009, and to 12 title games overall.
There’s no blueprint to follow in order to build a program like that, but Meusborn and Dill agree that there’s one good place to start: getting good players.
“We’ve got good players here and they’ll develop,” Meusborn said. “And there is an excitement out there about Sierra Canyon baseball. I do think players want to come to school here and we do have a lot of interest.”
The Trailblazers went unbeaten in their first 11 games this season to further help drum up interest. It was an accomplishment for the team especially considering it was playing two games a week last season in the Gold Coast League.
This year, they’re playing three games a week in the Mission League, and rescheduling due to weather has forced some of those games to be back-to-back. And since there’s eight teams in the league now, there’s no bye week.
“Definitely a lot more taxing on the bodies, on the minds. Mentally and physically it requires a lot, but we’ve been getting ready for it all year,” Sierra Canyon senior Grant Werdesheim said. “Once one series is over, you’ve just gotta automatically get your mind and body ready for the next.”
Other Sierra Canyon sports have moved to the Mission League this season and had success. The football team and girls basketball teams were each Mission League champions, girls volleyball shared a league title and boys basketball finished third in the league standings.
Seeing their Trailblazer counterparts thrive in an all-around competitive league has had an effect on the baseball team.
“There’s definitely some pressure,” Werdesheim said. “There’s some hunger there to be right up there with those programs. It definitely motivates us to be as good as them or better.”
The Trailblazers scored first Friday, putting up two runs in the third inning on a Kehden Hettinger sacrifice fly and an Ethan Munoz run-scoring single.
Pitcher Ethan Montes held Notre Dame (14-1, 10-1) scoreless in the first three innings. The Knights evened the score in the fourth, then Ryan Limerick drove in Adam Shlesinger on a single in the fifth inning for the go-ahead run. S
Shouts of “keep working” were coming from the Sierra Canyon dugout.
“We’re excited about the direction we’re headed,” Meusborn said. “We want to get there quickly. It is a process and you’re playing good teams every day. In this league, you can’t look at anybody say, ‘OK, there’s a good chance that we can get some easy wins this week.’ That’s not the case in this league.”
OTHER FRIDAY SCORES
Chaminade 5, Harvard-Westlake 3: Carter Bennet hit a home run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Eagles will play at Harvard-Westlake on Saturday at 11 a.m. to complete the three-game Mission League series. The teams split the first two meetings.
Crespi 1, Alemany 0: The Celts won two of their three games this week with Alemany.
Loyola 10, St. Francis 1: The two teams will meet again Saturday at Loyola at 10 a.m. in the third game of the Mission League series. St. Francis won Thursday’s game, 4-3.
West Ranch 8, Valencia 1: Landon Hu went 3 for 3 with two runs. Ben Cushnie earned the win with five innings of work and seven strikeouts.
Oaks Christian 15, Agoura 2: Quentin Young went 3 for 4 with a triple, a double and five RBIs.
El Camino Real 4, Taft 0: Tyler Sileo pitched a complete game, allowed just three hits and had nine strikeouts.
Granada Hills 4, Cleveland 3: Easton Hawk went 1 for 2 with a double and an RBI. Collin Cozy earned the win from the mound. Avi Berger was 2 for 2 for the Cavs.
Calabasas 5, Newbury Park 2: Tyler Shulman went 2 for 2 with an RBI. Lee Atkinson earned the win.
San Fernando 25, Canoga Park 6: Juan Reyes went 2 for 3 with four RBIs.