Kennedy Runs Itself Right Out of Playoffs

Kennedy, which was upset last week by Taft in the quarterfinals of the City Section 4-A Division playoffs, definitely will be smarting for a long, long time.

The Golden Cougars, seeded third in the tournament and ranked No. 9 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, blew three leads before falling, 7-6. Kennedy (24-4) also failed to execute in just about every way imaginable down the stretch, producing a nightmarish end.

To wit:

* With red-hot David Bourne at the plate in the fourth and the score tied, 4-4, a first-and-third double-steal attempt failed, resulting in the third out.

Bourne, who had homered in the third, then homered to lead off the fifth.

* With runners at first and second and the score tied, 6-6, in the sixth, Kennedy failed to score after its first two batters reached base. Pablo Perez was thrown out at third on a stolen-base attempt and Richard Prieto struck out on the next pitch. Jeff Tagliaferri followed with a single, but Jeff Nadeau grounded out with runners at the corners to end the threat.

* The coup de grace came in the seventh with Taft holding a 7-6 lead. With runners at the corners and one out, Ken Bernas popped up a bunt to pitcher Justin Siegel for the second out, and Geoff Hall was doubled off first by Siegel to end the game.

MARMONTE LEAGUE

BASEBALL

Senior right-hander Trevor Leppard of Simi Valley, who has signed with the University of San Diego, likely will be a high choice in Thursday’s amateur draft, according to his father.

Tom Leppard said the family phone has been ringing more frequently as draft day nears. Major league scouts have kept a close watch on Leppard (6-feet-1, 187 pounds), who is 8-1 with a 2.03 earned-run average in 75 2/3 innings. “There has been a significant amount of interest from the Dodgers, the Angels, all the early picks,” Tom Leppard said. “The Cards, the Reds, the Rockies. They all want to know if he is draftable.”

Leppard might be. It will depend on the round, the team, the signing bonus offered, etc., Tom Leppard said.

“Trevor is pretty level-headed about it,” his father said. “He’s entertaining it. He knows he has his scholarship and he can play at a good school. But he has stated that he is draftable if he is given the fair value of the round he is taken in.”

Simi Valley is not expected to select a new football coach until at least Friday, Athletic Director George Ragsdale said.

Last month, the school fired Coach Stan Quina after Quina would not commit to coaching the Pioneers next season. Quina, a walk-on who led Simi Valley to two consecutive winning seasons for the first time in school history, has publicly campaigned for other coaching jobs during the off-season.

Quina requested a teaching position at Simi Valley, but the request was denied. He has since accepted an assistant position at Ventura College.

On Tuesday, Ragsdale said the field of applicants had been narrowed to two members of the Simi Valley Unified School District. Ragsdale would not disclose their names.

“We want to get this done and get on with life,” Ragsdale said. “The big decision is whether we will hire one of them or whether we will go outside the district.”

If neither candidate is chosen, Ragsdale said, the school will open the job to applicants outside the district.

TRACK & FIELD

Marion Jones of Thousand Oaks, three-time defending state champion in the girls’ 100 and 200 meters, will compete in the Golden West Invitational in Sacramento on June 12, and in the International Prep Invitational in Elmhurst, Ill., on June 19.

Jones said earlier this year that this weekend’s state championships at Cerritos College would be her final competition of the season, but she changed her mind when the USA Track & Field overturned her suspension for failing to appear for a random drug test last week.

Jones had appealed the suspension, arguing that neither she nor her personal coach at the time, Elliott Mason, had received notification of the test that was scheduled for last Sept. 28. According to USATF rules, an athlete must report for a test within 48 hours of being notified or face an automatic four-year suspension.

Because most high school meets are not sanctioned by USATF, the suspension had not prevented her from participating in track and field during her senior year. However, it would have prevented her from competing in either the Golden West or International Prep meets.

FOOTHILL LEAGUE

TRACK & FIELD

A week and a half ago, Jessica Barraza’s high school career appeared to be over, but the Saugus senior will run in the girls’ 1,600 meters when the state championships start Friday at Cerritos College.

Barraza had run a then-personal best of 5 minutes 7.38 seconds to finish fifth in the 1,600 in the Southern Section Division I championships on May 22, but her time was the 11th fastest overall among the section’s four divisions, leaving her two positions shy of qualifying for the Masters Meet.

Barraza was added to the field when Karen Bockel of Nordhoff and Kellie Campbell of Corona del Mar dropped the 1,600 in order to concentrate on the 3,200, and she finished third in a personal best of 5:06.35 on Friday to qualify for the state meet.

“She was disappointed that she didn’t get into the Masters Meet originally,” Saugus assistant John Beattie said. “But she took advantage of her second chance the other day.”

Barraza’s best time was several seconds slower than most of her competitors’ in the Masters Meet, but she used a strong finishing kick to place third and advance to the state championships.

“With a lap and half to go, we thought, ‘She’s got a great chance to make it,’ ” Beattie said. . . .

Barraza is the first female distance runner from Saugus to qualify for the state championships since 1986 when freshman Heather Scobie timed 4:54.63 in the 1,600 to place second in the Masters Meet.

MISCELLANY

BASEBALL

For what it’s worth, the last area team to advance to the Southern Section major-division baseball final was Camarillo, which lost to Fountain Valley, 3-2, in 1985.

The last area team to win the title?

Hoover beat Lakewood, 2-1, in 1975. The only other area school to win was Glendale, which defeated Compton, 6-0, in 1938.

In short, no team from Ventura County or the San Fernando, Santa Clarita or Antelope valleys has ever won the major-division crown. . . .

Entering play this week, teams from the area occupied three of the top four berths in the Cal-Hi Sports state baseball rankings.

Crespi and Simi Valley are ranked first and second, and El Camino Real is fourth.

Staff writers Steve Elling, Jeff Fletcher, Vince Kowalick and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.