High School Baseball : Lofrano’s Pregame Talk Ignites Chatsworth, 9-1

Eight starters returned from last season’s Chatsworth baseball team, so a pregame motivational talk might not seem necessary. But Coach Bob Lofrano was taking no chances Friday.

“He told us to remember Rex’s fly out that ended our season in the semifinals against Poly last year,” All-City third baseman Joel Wolfe said in reference to Rex McMackin. “He said, ‘Let’s start our way back now,’ and we left the talk with fire in our eyes.”

That fire produced 10 hits, and Shawn Bowen allowed just 1 hit and struck out 7 in 6 innings as Chatsworth, ranked No. 1 in the Valley in The Times’ preseason poll, sashayed to a 9-1 victory over Serra in the first round of the 32-team Westside tournament.

Bowen gave up a single to the second batter he faced, then retired 17 of the next 18 (including 10 in a row) before yielding in the seventh to sophomore Reed McMackin, who allowed a run on two singles and a walk.

The right-handed Bowen, who won four consecutive league games last year before becoming academically ineligible, stayed ahead of the Serra batters throughout. First baseman Art Lowe supplied much of the offense, driving in three runs with two doubles and a single.

Lowe banged a double off the left-field fence in the two-run first inning to drive in Wolfe, the leadoff hitter, and his double in the fourth inning triggered a five-run uprising.

Chatsworth plays at Alemany in the second round at 11 this morning.