Harvard-Westlake baseball sweeps Notre Dame to win battle for first place

ENCINO — The Mission League has a new team atop the baseball standings.

Harvard-Westlake defeated Notre Dame, 10-4, on Friday at O’Malley Family Field to sweep the series and take sole possession of first place.

“Great team win,” Harvard-Westlake right fielder Ethan Price said. “All starts on (starting pitcher) Jake Chung, coming out hot, setting the tone.”

When the two teams began their series Tuesday, Notre Dame was undefeated in league and in first place.

Now Harvard-Westlake (17-4, 8-2) is in first and the Knights (14-6, 7-3) have dropped to second.

“The Mission League is, I would argue, one of the best leagues in the country,” Harvard-Westlake head coach Jared Halpert said. “So we’ve got a lot of tough baseball ahead of us, and we just got to stay locked in.”

In the bottom of the fourth, small ball, heads-up baserunning and defensive miscues set the table for a Wolverines rally.

After Lynch singled, catcher Drew Rico laid down a bunt that Notre Dame pitcher Lachlan Clark threw to first, but second baseman Sebby Grove, who was covering first on the bunt defense, dropped the throw.

With runners on first and second, designated hitter Asher Bunnin showed bunt. Malakye Matsumoto crashed on the play, but nobody covered third, allowing Lynch to advance.

“Take what the game is going to give you,” Halpert said. “And we thought that (bunting) was a good option there.”

On the next pitch, Bunnin laid one down, and Matsumoto fielded it but hesitated on the throw as he looked back at Lynch. Once Matsumoto threw the ball, the throw pulled Grove into the baseline. Grove and Bunnin collided, the ball trickled away, the runners advanced to second and third, and Lynch scored.

Notre Dame intentionally walked shortstop James Tronstein before Price, who homered earlier, singled to drive in a run. The next two batters walked and third baseman Luis Lappe hit into a fielder’s choice to give Harvard-Westlake a 7-1 lead.

“We fielded them, and then there was just some chaos over here at first,” Notre Dame head coach Tom Dill said. “If we catch those balls, get outs, it doesn’t go crazy there in that inning.”

The Knights were shut out and had four combined hits in their previous two games. They outhit the Wolverines, 11-9, Friday but never started a rally.

They led off the game with back-to-back singles before Matsumoto singled to drive in their first run of the series.

Chung, a Brown commit, pitched four innings, allowed five hits and one walk. He utilized a three-pitch mix — a sinker, slider and changeup — that hovered around 82 mph, 64 mph and 74 mph, respectively.

After Chung, freshman Mateo Mier came on to pitch, making his season debut after having to sit out for most of the season with a back injury.

“(I’m) wildly impressed with him …,” Halpert said. “He has elite feel for throwing strikes and throwing a baseball.”

Mier and right-handers CJ Gamradt and James Venick recorded the final nine outs to secure Harvard-Westlake’s eighth straight win.