Falcons Quietly Take Flight

Crescenta Valley is off to a 6-1 start in baseball, but hardly anyone knows because the Falcons have played five night games and their scores have come too late to get into the newspaper the next day.

Falcon Coach Phil Torres thinks his team, defending Pacific League champion, is as deep as any in the region.

He started junior left-hander Jordan Olson (2-0, 0.49 earned-run average) in Friday’s league opener against Arcadia instead of last season’s league MVP Josh Herman (2-0) and all-leaguer Jason LaMotte (1-0). Olson has 20 strikeouts in 14 innings.

The hot hitters are outfielder Nathan Barber (.556, 10 for 18), LaMotte (.533, eight for 15) , who also plays outfield, and second baseman Mark McCauley (eight for 19, .421, two home runs).

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Sibling rivalry: Brothers Jack and Matt Cassel are off to such fast starts in the Northwest Valley Conference that they are the top two City Section batters in the region.

Entering the week, Matt, a sophomore at Chatsworth, is hitting .571 and Jack, a senior at Kennedy, is hitting .545.

The two are set to square off on Tuesday when Chatsworth plays at Kennedy. Jack Cassel will pitch for the Golden Cougars.