Steady-fielding, power-hitting second basemen are difficult to find at the high school level. Leadoff hitters who reach base 60% of the time and score at nearly the same rate are baseball's equivalent to archeological treasures.
But Chatsworth has those qualities wrapped into one player this spring. Willie Cabrera has been putting opponents on their heels since the opening pitch nearly three months ago, and tonight he'll dig into the batter's box for one last game as a member of the top-seeded Chancellors (34-0), who will try to defend their City Section Championship Division title against second-seeded San Pedro (31-3) at Dodger Stadium.
Cabrera broke the state record for most hits in a season Friday, slamming a leadoff home run in the fifth inning to spark a comeback from a seven-run deficit in a 10-7 win against Granada Hills Kennedy.
It was the 69th hit and school-record 11th home run of the season for Cabrera, who would single later in the game, eclipsing the previous state mark of 68 hits set by Gerald Laird of Westminster La Quinta in 1998. Cabrera, who is 5 feet 10 and 180 pounds, also leads the Chancellors in batting average (.543) and runs scored (58). In the field, he has only five errors in 99 chances.
The numbers seem astronomical to Cabrera, who came into the season just happy to be back in the lineup after a knee injury ended his junior season after seven games.
"My main goal coming into the season was to put my team in position to win games and, hopefully, win a [City] title," Cabrera said. "Just get on base for the two, three and four hitters because they're obviously a force to be reckoned with."
Pepperdine-bound Jason Dominguez, who is 12-0 on the mound and plays center field when not pitching, moved into the No. 2 spot in the batting order late in the regular season. Dominguez, who is hitting .485 with a team-leading 18 doubles, has forced opposing pitchers to challenge Cabrera even more. In three playoff games, Cabrera is eight for 11 with three doubles and three home runs.
"You can't pitch around both those guys," Chatsworth Coach Tom Meusborn said. "You have to pitch to one of them and our three, four and five guys are doing pretty well too."
They include freshman third-baseman Matt Dominguez, brother of Jason, who is hitting .468 with a region-leading and freshman state record 64 runs batted in. The Chancellors also have a state-record 49-game winning streak.
