Kennedy Tough Enough to Upset Granada Hills

After his team lost seven of its first nine league games, Kennedy High baseball Coach Dick Whitney started wearing a yellow T-shirt with the inscription, “Tough times never last, but tough people do.”

It appears that Whitney and his team have survived the hard times. The Golden Cougars registered their fourth straight win Tuesday by defeating Granada Hills, 4-3, at home.

Jeff Burton bounced a sharp single to left field with one out in the eighth to score Kevin Farlow with the winning run. Granada Hills had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the inning on Danny Takahashi’s run-scoring single up the middle, but the Golden Cougars soon translated Whitney’s slogan into scores.

Dain Turner and Billy Picketts led off the bottom of the eighth with singles, and following a bunt by Farlow that erased pinch-runner Roman Carter at third, Kevin Wittke smacked an RBI double down the left-field line to tie the score.

Kennedy (6-7 in league), the defending City champion, remains in a tie for third in the Mid-Valley League with Birmingham. Granada Hills (10-3) dropped to second, one game behind San Fernando.

“If we can play a team like Granada and beat them, who knows what these guys can do come playoff time,” Whitney said. “We’re just hoping to say we beat the best and get some momentum going into the playoffs.”

Sean Casey, who pitched the entire game for Granada Hills, appeared to tire in the eighth. After Wittke’s double, Granada Hills’ Coach Darryl Stroh decided to have Casey pitch to Burton rather than walk him intentionally and pitch to Todd Davis.

“You walk him, you walk the next guy and they win,” Stroh said. “We wanted them to have to come and beat us rather than have us beat ourselves.”

Jaime Ponce relieved Cougar starting pitcher Eric Evans to start the fifth after Evans tired. Ponce held the Highlanders to two runs on four hits and one walk, and improved his record to 3-0.

Ponce gave a lot of the credit to his defense, which has been plagued by errors all season. “Our defense played well,” he said. “I got a little weak, but we stuck together as a team. I got seven guys out there to help me. I did my part and they did theirs.”

Kennedy sent the game into extra innings when Gary Pina’s RBI double to left scored Davis, who was aboard on a fielder’s choice. Pina, who was 2 for 3 with two RBIs, was thrown out trying to go to third on a ground ball to short, however.

The Golden Cougars jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second when Pina scored Burton from third on a single to right-center.

Sean Brown’s fourth-inning sacrifice fly to center scored Casey for the Highlanders’ first run. Scott Tosti singled home Dean Yoshitani the following inning to give Granada Hills a 2-1 lead. Tosti, who missed several games earlier in the year because of a shoulder injury, was 3 for 4.

Casey (6-4) allowed nine hits, struck out five and walked three in completing his fifth game.

Ponce struck out three and Evans struck out six and walked two for Kennedy. Evans was replaced by Whitney after four. In the fourth, the right-hander allowed a double, single and walk.

“Evans pitched well but tired early,” Whitney said.