Santa Clarita Sports Report: October 7, 2015

Girls Volleyball

Valencia High School has moved to #7 in the CIF Division 1A volleyball rankings, up from #9 a week ago. They are the only ranked Foothill League school.

Trinity Classical (#7 in Division 5AA 16-6-1 overall, 1-0 in league) took care of business Tuesday night, sweeping Faith Baptist 3-0 to open their Heritage League schedule on a high note.

There’s no doubt the Knights look at their schedule and see their biggest match of the season (against #1 ranked Santa Clarita Christian) just one week away, but it is crucial they remain focused on winning each and every day as they have two more matches this week before the rivalry week madness, home to Heritage Christian and on the road to Providence, respectively.

How head coach Alison Buchanon prepares her team for what is the most important stretch of the Knights season will go a long way in determining who takes the Heritage banner this season.

The Master’s College

As far as must-win conference road games go, TMC’s day trip to Santa Barbara surely is important for the #17 team in NAIA’s hopes of taking the GSAC this year.

The Mustangs will continue to roll on offense as the conference’s top scoring team, and take a 10-0 goal differential the last two GSAC games to Westmont.

The Lady Mustangs suffered a major blow at Westmont yesterday, battling the Warriors to a 1-1 draw all the way to the 89^th minute where heartbreak hit in the form of a Westmont game-winner. Offense has been an issue for the Mustangs this season, as they managed just three shots with only one being put on frame.

They’ll look to get back on track Saturday when they welcome #12 Vanguard to Reese Field.

Major League Baseball Playoffs

Dallas Keuchel has owned the New York Yankees this season, and it continued in the one game playoff last night. The Astros All-Star pitcher shutout the Yankees lineup in 16 innings during the regular season and carried over that form to the tune of 6 more scoreless innings last night at Yankee Stadium where the Astros won, 3-0.

Houston will now head to Kansas City for the ALDS to play the Royals, the best team in the American League this year. That series begins tomorrow, with the first pitch coming at 4:37PST.

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced their rotation for the NLDS against the Mets, and there’s no question they made the right decision, putting Kershaw on the mound first and handing the ball to Greinke in game two.

Some people were calling for Zach Greinke, whom had the better season from his first start to his last, to start the game one. However, Don Mattingly understands the pulse and psychology of his club infinitely better than people outside of Dodgers Stadium.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Starting pitching in the postseason is one of the most excruciatingly pressure-filled positions to play in all of sports. Clayton Kershaw has been the horse, the guy you want to eat up the most innings, and the guy you want to remain confident in his #1 ability. If something terrible were to happen and Kershaw was to struggle, you’d rather have that happen in game one and not with the added pressure of pitching a game two (say, down 1-0 in the series and desperately needing the victory).

Inserting Zach Greinke and how he has pitched this season in game two, he is the guy to stop the bleeding and to reverse the momentum that changes from game to game based on the starting pitcher. Mattingly made the right decision (albeit probably an easy one) in the way he set the rotation.