North Hollywood freshman pitcher is diamond in the rough

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North Hollywood Coach Hector Menchaca had a feeling, be it one of inspiration or desperation, that freshman right-hander Jonathan Linares could do what the other Huskies’ pitchers could not do on Thursday -- get Franklin’s batters out.

Linares did just that with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, and got his first varsity win when North Hollywood rallied from an 8-3 deficit to win, 9-8, over the visiting Panthers.

While extolling his players for their ‘character’ and ‘willingness to battle’ -- after all, this is the kind of comeback win that can lift a team to bigger and better things -- Menchaca saved his biggest praise for the poise Linares showed after the first two Huskies pitchers, Manny Gutierrez and Sean McGrier, were battered for eight runs and 12 of the Panthers’ 14 hits.

‘He has been money for us,’ Menchaca said of Linares. ‘He just goes out there and plays the game. I made sure he got the game ball. I should have got it autographed.’

-- Mike Terry