Kennedy Takes Over 1st Place in North Valley League Race : Prep baseball: Golden Cougars force San Fernando into showdown for title Thursday with 4-3 win.

Yet again, art imitates life.

A few moments after Kennedy High had knocked off San Fernando on Tuesday, the long-awaited Kennedy team program was finally circulated among the ballplayers. It set off a spirited scramble as each player elbowed past teammates, grabbed a copy and flipped through, page by page, in search of his toothy mug shot.

The program cover features a pile of Kennedy baseball players crawling over one another as they scramble up a flagpole after a pennant emblazoned with “Champs” in capital letters.

With its 4-3 win at Kennedy, the Golden Cougars (16-8, 11-5 in league play) kept alive their quest for a North Valley League title. The victory sets up a winner-take-all showdown Thursday in the regular-season finale at San Fernando. Momentum in the league race--San Fernando (15-6-2, 10-5-1) held a 1 1/2-game lead over Kennedy last week--might have switched.

“I pitched pretty good and I still didn’t beat them,” San Fernando right-hander John Najar said. “I’m starting to wonder what it takes to beat them. It seems like they’ve got our number right now.”

Najar threw a five-hitter, struck out 11 and walked three but was outgunned by Kennedy senior Denny Sharp.

“He was throwing hard ,” said Sharp, a curve-throwing left-hander who allowed five hits and struck out nine. “I’m not sure how we beat him.”

Had it been left up to Najar’s arm, or even his bat, Kennedy might have been blanked. But it came down to Najar’s glove: Two Kennedy rallies were keyed by liners that Najar could have flagged but didn’t.

In the first, Jason Rosen--who has six hits in his past seven at-bats--sent a grounder through Najar’s legs and into center. Rosen scored on Troy Bourne’s double, and, one out later, Bourne scored on an infield out by Lazaro Campos.

Kennedy took a 3-0 lead in the fourth when Ben Guzman drilled a two-out single off Najar’s glove, driving in Garret Anderson from third.

“I thought I had it in my glove,” Najar said. “Then I turned to throw to first and it wasn’t there. That one killed me.”

San Fernando wasn’t dead, though, banging out three of its five hits in the top of the fifth to tie the score, 3-3. With runners at second and third and one out, pinch-hitter Alfredo Hernandez singled to center, driving in Octavio Serrano and sending Fernando Ortega to third.

Richard Sanchez’s anything-but-routine sacrifice fly to Anderson in center scored Serrano--and set off a chain reaction. Anderson’s throw to the infield was not cut off and Hernandez, who tagged up at first, beat catcher Campos’ throw to second. David Rojas cashed in Hernandez with a bloop single to right.

“A real bleeder,” Rojas said.

Himself bloodied, Sharp (7-4) retired six of the next seven and hoped the offense could scratch out a fourth run. It did, without so much as a scratch single.

Campos led off the sixth with a walk and was replaced by pinch-runner James Bernas, who took second on a passed ball and third on a wild pitch. Guzman sent a one-out roller to shortstop Luis Rodriguez, whose throw home beat Bernas’ headfirst dive, but catcher Jess Ceniceros dropped the ball for an error while attempting a backhanded sweep tag.

Alvarado, who bolted toward home plate from the dugout as the throw came home, was close enough to tag the plate himself when the umpire screamed “ saaafe .”

“You don’t see too much grass there,” Alvarado said as he pointed to the stretch of ground between the Kennedy dugout and home plate. “I’m up and down that line all the time.”

And Kennedy, which has had its ups and downs as a team, is now in a position to steal a league title. Three weeks ago, the team was mired in a tailspin after having lost six of seven, but Alvarado says the winning edge is back. Tuesday’s victory was a refresher course.

“We know which buttons we have to push,” Alvarado said. “Shoot, this team was 11-1 at one time.

“Once you learn something for the second time, you don’t forget it.”