Emotional Highs, Ethical Lows : Granada Hills Beats Kennedy Amid Cursing and Pushing

For Greg Fowble, Granada Hills’ All-City shortstop, it was quite a moment.

“I have the same feeling I had after we won the City championship last year,” Fowble said after the Highlanders had rallied from a four-run deficit and defeated Kennedy, 13-6, Thursday afternoon at Granada Hills.

The emotion goes way back.

“It’s Kennedy,” Fowble said. “We’ve played together since we were little kids. It’s a matter of pride.”

And a matter of first place in the Mid-Valley League. The two teams are now tied at 3-1 following the Golden Cougars’ first loss in eight games this season.

Fowble was the man of the hour for Granada Hills, delivering a two-out, two-run double in the fifth inning to give the Highlanders a 7-6 lead. Granada began the inning trailing, 6-2, but scored seven runs.

They added four more runs in the sixth and again Fowble had a big hand in the action.

This time Fowble played the role of peacekeeper.

Throughout the game, emotions ran high between the cross-town rivals. At one point, the umpires had to clear the area behind the backstop because fans and players kept trading insults.

But more on that later.

In the bottom of the sixth, Dean Yoshitani delivered the last of Granada’s 14 hits, a two-run double that scored two runs and made it 13-6.

As winning pitcher Leo Clouser crossed the plate, he pushed Kennedy catcher Randy Sreden, who then went after Clouser. Fowble--who was on deck--stepped in and held Sreden back, preventing a possible fight.

“There was no play at the plate, and as I crossed it, he hit me in the groin with his glove,” Clouser said. “So I turned around and pushed him.”

Said Sreden: “He pushed me. He said to me, ‘Don’t block the plate.’ ”

Before the bottom of the third inning, Granada Coach Darryl Stroh started yelling at several Kennedy fans situated behind the plate. A little while later, he screamed at someone in the stands, “This is your Kennedy class. I think it stinks.”

Moments later, the umpires conferred with both Stroh and Kennedy Coach Dick Whitney. They decided to make the fans behind the plate find new seats.

“They’re chanting, ‘Green (bleep), green (bleep).’ ” Stroh said afterward. “It wasn’t the (Kennedy) players, it was the crowd with them. It bothers me. It lets the game get out of hand.

“We’re not gonna allow that. If our guys start yelling obscenities, I’ll throw their (bleeps) out.”

Said Whitney: “I don’t mind the players yelling, getting hyped up. But it’s the people in the stands. Most of them have probably never played a game of baseball, but it’s their niche to yell.”

He added: “Their players were more rank than ours in regards to yelling.”

Several times during the contest, the umpires had to tell players from each team to sit down in the dugout and keep quiet.

Meanwhile, back to the game.

Granada scored two runs off Kennedy starter Sandy Sreden in the first. Fowble led off with a single, then scored on a double by Scott Tosti, who was tagged out after he slipped rounding second.

Dan Takahashi then smashed a home run deep over the left field fence for a 2-0 lead.

Sreden lasted only 1 innings, giving up five hits and walking three batters. Lee Skolnick came in and held Granada scoreless until the fifth.

Kennedy scored four times in the third, George Gonzalez driving in two with a single, and Takahashi’s error at second allowing another. Randy Sreden also knocked in a run with a single.

Brian Schlesinger singled in two more runs for Kennedy in the fifth. His hit came off Sal Barrocas, who had replaced the starter, Tosti, during the inning.

Takahashi’s second homer of the game, a two-run blast, made it 6-4 Kennedy in the fifth. Losing pitcher Eric Evans then walked in a run before giving up Fowble’s double. Tosti, batting for the second time in the inning, then singled home two more.

“They kicked our butts this time,” Whitney said, “but this isn’t the World Series. We still have two games left with them.”