Kennedy Wins Babe Herman Tournament

When the players from Buena High showed up for their baseball game Wednesday night against Kennedy wearing sport coats, ties and penny loafers, the attempt at sartorial splendor drew a few chuckles from the more casually attired Kennedy players.

Buena Coach Stan Hedegard’s all-white, Miami Vice outfit drew the most attention.

“Remember, it’s better to look good than to feel good,” cracked one Kennedy player, clad in a T-shirt, team cap, spikes and his uniform pants.

Unfortunately for Buena, the team didn’t especially look good or feel good on the field during its 12-6 loss to Kennedy in the champonship game of the 24th Babe Herman tournament in Glendale.

Buena (8-8-1), which had appeared in the final on six previous occasions and had won the tournament five times, looked bueno for parts of the first 4 1/2 innings, fighting Kennedy (9-5-1) to a 6-6 tie.

Buena threatened to take the lead with two out in the top of the fifth when, with a runner on third, Kennedy center fielder Don Williams robbed Robert Worsley of a single and a run batted in with a diving catch in right center field.

Williams led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to the same spot in right, and two outs later scored on a wild pitch to give Kennedy, which finished second in the tournament last year, a 7-6 lead.

Kennedy rocked Buena relievers Mike Sandoval and Brady Thurman in the sixth, scoring five runs on five hits and escalating the score to its final numbers.

Kennedy right-hander Jason Farrell (3-2) pitched the last four innings, allowing no runs, to earn the victory for the Golden Cougars.

Vladimir Pajcin was 3 for 4 with 4 RBIs for Kennedy. Williams and Kevin Farlow each had two hits.

Wally Thornhill was 2 for 3 with 4 RBIs as Newbury Park defeated Hoover, 11-1, in the Babe Herman consolation final.

Thornhill had an RBI single in the first inning and a three-run double in the second as the Panthers (8-10-1) took a big lead behind starter Jeff Berman, who pitched five scoreless innings and evened his record at 3-3.

The game was called after six innings.