Kennedy Delivers a 12-2 Win in Reply to Rival Pitcher’s Letter

It was the kind of correspondence that takes an emotional game to an even higher level. Yet in the end, it was Kennedy that was letter-perfect.

While attending a banquet at an area restaurant last week, Kennedy shortstop Gino Tagliaferri was handed a note by a cheerleader. As far as artistic value, it left something to be desired. As far as arrogance, it rated off the 10-scale.

It didn’t read Dear John, but Dear Gino. Granada Hills right-hander Jeff Adams was the author and its contents caused a minor furor at Kennedy.

“His girlfriend is a cheerleader at Kennedy High,” Tagliaferri said. “He had it delivered to me through about 18 different people.”

The special delivery promised a Granada Hills victory in Monday’s Mid-Valley League game at Kennedy. Granada Hills had twice beaten Kennedy earlier in league play.

“It had ‘Granada 2, Kennedy 0’ written on it, said ‘Love and kisses,’ had a broom drawn on it and it was signed ‘J. J. Fastball, No. 32,’ ” Tagliaferri said.

Adams, who wears No. 32, has J. J. Fastball engraved on his car’s license plate frame, so it was no mystery who authored the letter.

“Gino brought it to our attention today,” pitcher Scott Roth said Monday. “It really pumped us up even more, it put us over the top.”

Roth pitched five innings of no-hit ball and Kennedy pummeled Adams, tagging him for six runs in four innings en route to a 12-2 win that moved Kennedy into a three-way tie for first with San Fernando and Granada Hills at 8-3.

Talk about the Phony Express.

Several Granada Hills fans, in keeping with Adams’ sweep theme, turned out at the game wielding brooms of doom. After Kennedy scored six runs in the sixth to take a 12-1 lead, however, it was evident that Granada Hills was the team getting the brisk whisk.

“All that did was fire us up even more,” Roth said. “It just gave us that many more reasons to kill those guys.”

Add Kennedy: Roth, a senior right-hander who raised his record to 6-1 with the win Monday, will be sidelined for as many as 10 days because of a hyperextended right arm. After pitching five hitless innings, Roth felt pain in his shoulder in the top of the sixth.

“They said it was a bone bruise, or some kind of hyperextension and that I’ll probably be out for about 10 days,” Roth said.

Before the injury, Roth was working on a streak of 19 innings without allowing an earned run. Kennedy also will miss his bat; entering the week, Roth led the team in hits (27), had 7 doubles, 16 runs batted in and was batting .397.

Last add Kennedy: Designated-hitter V. P. Pajcin wore glasses for the first time against Granada Hills and was 2 for 4 with an RBI. After realizing he wasn’t seeing the ball clearly during a spring vacation tournament in Las Vegas, Pajcin, a second-team all-league selection last year, went to the optometrist.

Wearing glasses, has other advantages, too.

“I finally started hitting the ball, and now everybody thinks I’m a student, too,” he quipped. “Pitchers go up there thinking, ‘Look at this nerd, I’m gonna K this guy,’ and boom, I get ‘em.”

Flash those pearly whites: The Chatsworth Chancellors are still undefeated in West Valley League play despite having the cameras of cable network ESPN shoved in their faces during games against Reseda and Cleveland.

The Chancellors, who are ranked No. 1 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball for the second consecutive month, will be featured on “Scholastic Sports America” at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Chatsworth was featured on the program last month after winning the Colonial Baseball Classic in Orlando, Fla.

“It was tough for the kids to play,” Coach Bob Lofrano said. “They had the feeling that ‘This is going to be on TV and we don’t want to do poorly.’ It was a distraction.”

Not for third baseman Joel Wolfe, who was interviewed by ESPN in Florida.

“Wolfe sees the cameras rolling and he’s ready to go,” Lofrano said. “He’s our media consultant.”

Coming on strongly: Grant’s Javier Delahoya is on a roll. In his past 15 innings, Delahoya has allowed 5 hits, 3 earned runs and 7 walks while striking out 33. On Monday, he beat North Hollywood, 5-2, in eight innings with a two-hitter. He struck out 20.

Delahoya, a junior right-hander, also hit a game-winning home run in the top of the eighth and has Grant followers comparing him to Rodney Beck, the 1986 City Section Player of the Year who led Grant to the 4-A Division title that year.

“He’s right up there with Beck,” Coach Tom Lucero said. “I hate to compare Javier with anybody, but he has the ability to dominate.”

Nearly back: Poly All-City pitcher Greg Nealon is in school this week after missing the past two because of mononucleosis. Coach Jerry Cord said Nealon will begin throwing again this week but will not practice strenuously for at least a week. Cord said Nealon won’t pitch until the playoffs, which begin May 25.

Poly (15-3, 13-1) is in first place in the East Valley League, three games ahead of Sylmar with four remaining.

Reverse order: Typically, the ninth batter in a team’s lineup is one of the weakest, but not at Chaminade.

Left fielder Doug Marconet, a senior, might be the most potent offensive weapon on a team that scored 167 runs in its first 20 games. Marconet, who is batting .370, is tied for the team lead in hits (20), doubles (4) and leads the team with 17 RBIs.

Marconet is not the only hot hitter in the bottom half of the lineup. Greg Baumgartner is batting .327 with 16 RBIs in the fifth spot, Terry Moriarty is batting .344 in the sixth spot and Dave Morrison is batting .378 in the seventh spot.

Crespi combine: Crespi Coach Scott Muckey has introduced pitching by committee to his staff.

Dissatisfied with the endurance shown by his starters, Muckey has started right-hander Dan Carroll in each of Crespi’s games for the past two weeks. Carroll is usually followed by former starter Chad Nichols, who gives way to short reliever John Dempsey.

“It’s just a quick hook,” Muckey said. “The first pitcher, the first two innings are his. We’re just not afraid to bring the next guy in.”

But necessity also prompted the move.

“I was desperate,” he said. “It was really pretty simple--nobody was getting us past the fifth inning. We just try to pitch them short and often, while keeping an eye on their arms.”

Since the change, Crespi’s earned-run average is 2.60--compared to the previous 5.80--and the Celts’ record has improved to 11-9, 3-4 in Del Rey League play.

Staff writers Tim Brown, Vince Kowalick, John Ortega and Chris J. Parker contributed to this notebook.