Baseball: Freshman Cole Dale could be important pitcher for Sherman Oaks Notre Dame

It’s going to be a whole new baseball experience this spring in the Mission League playing the same team three times in a week, putting pressure on pitching staffs to come up with three solid starting pitchers.

And Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, which returns junior standout Hunter Greene, along with seniors Deandre Carter and Jamie Robertson on the mound, may have come with a new player to make major contributions.

Freshman pitcher Cole Dale, who’s being recruited by UCLA, has shown enough to Coach Tom Dill during the fall and winter that he’s going to be available in the bullpen early on.

“He doesn’t appear to be a freshman,” Dill said. “He’s strong, has good mechanics and sits around the mid-80s.”

Notre Dame is hosting Santa Barbara on Saturday morning in a winter league game.

It’s going to be a busy Saturday. Chatsworth and Kennedy are holding alumni games. Birmingham is holding its alumni game at 11 a.m.

Mater Dei is playing at Los Alamitos and Huntington Beach is playing Santa Margarita at Anaheim Canyon as part of the Trinity League-Sunset League winter competition.

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