Kennedy Continues to Make Timely Strides, 7-3

A month ago, Kennedy High was 3-3 in Mid-Valley League play and one of the last teams expected to be kicking sand in the faces of league opponents at this stage of the season. To Kennedy hitters, each pitch looked like a golf ball, not a beach ball.

Sure, the public-address announcer played “Wipe Out” every time the Golden Cougars scored and the team used a beach-style Baja bug to drag the infield, but, until recently, Kennedy was in dire need of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

“The attitude is different now,” said catcher Brian Roth, who has a Body Glove wet suit sticker on his bat. “The hitting is there, the pitching is coming through, we’re attacking people and not backing down. We’ve breathed life back into this team.”

Roth was 2 for 3 with two runs batted in to key Kennedy’s nine-hit attack as the Golden Cougars defeated San Fernando, 7-3, Thursday at Kennedy. The victory keeps Kennedy (15-9 overall) in a first-place tie with Granada Hills at 9-3 in league play.

More importantly, Kennedy, winner of six in a row, is heading in the right direction with three games remaining in the regular season.

“I knew we had a good team,” designated hitter V. P. Pajcin said after extending his 10-game hitting streak with two hits, including a 400-foot home run in the fifth inning. “We finally got it going, and just in time. I don’t know how, it just happened.”

All sorts of things happened to San Fernando right-hander Frank Serna (2-1), who faced only 8 batters and allowed 4 runs in 1 innings. Serna, an All-City selection, has two league losses in his career, both to Kennedy.

Kennedy broke a 1-1 tie in the second with three runs. Pajcin started the surge with a single to right and scored on Pat DeBoer’s triple to right-center. Roth scored DeBoer with a single to left. Arnie Aguinaga, who drew a walk and advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and another walk, scored on Shawn Madden’s RBI single, which prompted Serna’s exit.

Kennedy left-hander Colin Hines, despite being victimized by three errors at third by Aguinaga, cruised right along. After the fourth inning, when San Fernando (8-6, 8-4) scored its third run to close within 5-3, Hines (7-2) retired six of the last seven batters to finish with a complete-game four-hitter. He struck out four, walked two and did not allow an earned run.

“They just couldn’t hit the fastball,” Hines said of San Fernando. “They don’t have much power, and they usually just chip away at you. But not today.”

Not for a week. San Fernando defeated Granada Hills last Thursday, 1-0, and lost to Van Nuys on Monday, 3-2. The Tigers have 13 hits in their past 20 innings.

Leading, 5-3, Kennedy added a run in the fifth on Pajcin’s home run and another in the sixth on a pair of San Fernando errors. Seven players hit safely and five drove in runs for the Golden Cougars, who at last are getting offensive production after weeks adrift in a sea of mediocrity.

Is Kennedy now riding the crest of a title wave?

“A month ago, I was thinking third place or maybe even just a playoff spot,” Hines said. “Now things are coming back together, and this is the perfect time.”