Cougars get the nod in close baseball selection over Chatsworth while the Monarchs were only waiting for the announcement to be made for it to be official in softball. Pitching dominance was the key for both teams, but if not for one mighty swing of the bat neither team might have finished No. 1 in the state. Final overall & expanded state baseball and softball rankings to be released later this week, following our MLB Draft coverage.

By Mark Tennis, Executive Editor

CIF Southern Section Division I champion Capistrano Valley of Mission Viejo and CIF Central Coast Section Division II titlist Archbishop Mitty of San Jose were selected on Monday to be the 2009 State Teams of the Year in baseball and softball, respectively, by CalHiSports.com.

Capistrano Valley's choice was close as the Cougars moved up from No. 4 in the previous state rankings to grab the top honor from previous No. 3 Chatsworth, the L.A. City Section champ.

After Chatsworth had ended its season on May 30 with a 9-0 win over Cleveland of Reseda in the L.A. City final at Dodger Stadium, the Chancellors (29-4) had to wait it out to see what would happen in last week's Southern Section playoffs. In the semifinals, No. 1 Edison of Huntington Beach edged No. 2 Mater Dei of Santa Ana, 2-1, while No. 4 Capistrano Valley topped Poly of Riverside, 1-0. Then in last Saturday's final at Anaheim Stadium, the Cougars posted yet another shutout with a 1-0 win over Edison.

Despite having six losses overall to Chatsworth's four, it was that pitching that was the difference in Capistrano Valley's rise all the way to the top. In addition to blanking Riverside Poly and Edison in its last two games, head coach Bob Zamora's team also had shutouts in its previous two playoff games. The only runs that scored against the Cougars in the postseason came when Zamora took out ace Tyler Matzek with an 8-0 lead in the first playoff game against Long Beach Wilson.

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