THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Sorry, Kennedy, but Your Cover’s Blown on the Pickoff Play

From Little League on up, baseball players learn a variety of fakes and tricks that can be used to fool a baserunner on a pickoff play.

Not too many teams orchestrate their maneuvers to the extent that Kennedy does, however. Just about every person in a Cougar uniform gets into the act--even the players on the bench.

Kennedy executed the play to perfection in the semifinals of the Babe Herman tournament last Tuesday. The scenario went like this:

Kennedy led Buena, 6-3, with two out in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Bulldogs were beginning to rally.

Steve Arrap of Buena was on second with Juan Martinez, the No. 4 hitter, at bat.

When Arrap took his lead from second, Kennedy pitcher Al Mayhew pivoted off the rubber and faked a hard throw to second. Kevin Wittke, the second baseman, and Billy Pickeets, the shortstop, dove after an imaginary ball and all three outfielders converged on an area in short center field. Meanwhile, the players on the Kennedy bench did their best to shriek with a prescribed amount of agony.

The ploy worked. Arrap, not seeing the ball, reacted to the movement of the Kennedy fielders and took off for third base where he was an easy out. The rally was halted and Kennedy held on to win, 6-5.

The “Famous Kennedy Pickoff Play” had worked again. Scott Drootin, Kennedy’s interim coach, explained later that the play works especially well in tournaments against teams that haven’t played Kennedy before.

The next night, Drootin called for the play again. This time, the runner didn’t fall for the fake. Coincidentally or not, Kennedy lost to Redondo, 5-4.

Harry Jenkins, Redondo’s coach, conceded after the game that someone had told him to tell his players to watch for the fake.

Apparently, the “Famous Kennedy Pickoff Play” has become a little too famous.

The Pioneers (9-3) play Orlando West Orange on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

The 16-team, double-elimination tournament features Miami Killian and Tate Gonzales, Florida’s top two high school teams. Gonzales was ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today last season.

Coach Mike Scyphers said the Pioneers will try to attend a few spring-training exhibition games and also visit Disney World, the Kennedy Space Center and tour Epcot Center.

Simi Valley raised $10,000 to make the trip, the bulk of which came from the sale of 35 signs along the outfield fence at the Pioneers’ field for $200 each.

The Southern California Soccer Coaches Assn. announced its All-Southern Section team this week and 57 Valley-area players were among the 305 boys and girls selected.

Robert Harris of Simi Valley was offensive player of the year in the boys 4-A division, and teammate John Spach was the defensive player of the year. Paul McCully of Thousand Oaks was also a first-team selection.

On the second team were Ricky Acuna, Steve Bame and Steve MacKenzie of Simi Valley, Todd Isenburg of Newbury Park and Eric Wynalda of Westlake.

Tom Truong of Thousand Oaks was on the third team.

Cesar Zepeda of Burbank was defensive player of the year in the boys 3-A division. Teammate Sal Velasco was also a first-team selection, as was Crespi’s Peter Zenobi.

Lucio Salada and Brad Watkins of Burbank were second-team selections, as were Mike Cartland of Crespi and Eddie Olaffson of Hart.

Abel Saldana of Burbank was joined on the third team by Bobby Davidorf of Harvard and Chris Fontal of Hart.

Matt Fee of Chaminade was a third-team selection in the boys 2-A division.

Tri-Valley League rivals Agoura and Calabasas dominated the major awards in the boys 1-A division. Kevin Jauch and Grant Landy of Agoura were co-offensive players of the year. Agoura’s Marc Berke was coach of the year after leading the Chargers to the Southern Section 1-A championship. Craig Diamond of Calabasas was defensive player of the year.

Mike Nielson of Agoura was selected to the first team, as were Poe Allen of Calabasas and Chris Bollier and David Fursman of L.A. Baptist. Richard DuPlane and Jim Shelton of Agoura were second-team selections. They were joined by Paul Ratcliffe of Calabasas and Sean Scanlon of Moorpark.

In the girls 4-A division, Kelli Murawski of Simi Valley and Barbie Yribe of Royal were first-team selections. Leslie Page and Trisha White of Simi Valley were on the second team, as were Heidi Leal of Camarillo, Kristen Mealiffe of Thousand Oaks and Sondra Shatkin of Alemany.

Third-team selections were Adina Cochrane and Lisa Gonzalez of Alemany, Michelle Miltko of Royal and Stacia Pollock of Westlake.

Valley-area players took 15 of the 36 spots on the girls 2-A division team. Agoura, the division champion, swept the major awards. Tracy Redman was offensive player of the year. Diahn Matzner was defensive player of the year and David Godwin was coach of the year.

Oak Park, which advanced to the divisional final after finishing third in the Tri-Valley League, placed Robin Monico, Kathy Greenhalgh and Stacy Wise on the first team. Cheri Stratton and Lisa Peltonen of Moorpark were also first-team selections, as was Crisanne Casazza of Chaminade.

Lori Shotliff and Wendy Womack of Moorpark, Tamiko Ogawa of Oak Park and Wendy Bennett of Agoura made the second team.