Defense Aids Kenoi in Valley North’s Win

Harry Kenoi is the first to admit that as a pitcher he is not always on . Fortunately for Kenoi, baseball is a team sport.

“Some days I throw real well and then some days we play great defense and have great hitting,” Kenoi said.

Chalk up Kenoi’s third consecutive victory to the latter. Kenoi threw five consecutive shutout innings Wednesday, but relied heavily on the defensive play of his Valley North teammates to beat Woodland Hills East, 6-1, in an American Legion District 20 Western Division baseball game at Taft High.

Kenoi (3-0), who just finished his sophomore season at Chatsworth High with a 6-1 record, allowed nine hits and walked three through six innings, but gave up only one run to East (9-2), which has lost only to North.

“I did all right,” Kenoi said. “Nothing special.”

Kenoi’s specialty against East tended to be his ability to dodge catastrophe. His defense, which turned two double plays and played error-free ball, provided the protection.

In the second inning of a scoreless game, Kenoi allowed three consecutive singles to Gregg Zutler, David Helman and Josh Irving to load the bases with two out. But Kenoi enticed Mike Ferguson to pop out on a 2-and-2 pitch to end the threat.

North (10-0), which was paced by David Stevenson’s three-for-three performance, took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on Tony Montiel’s run-scoring single and Ryan Mort’s sacrifice fly. Stevenson, who doubled in the inning, has hit safely in all seven games he has played in this season. He has had multiple hits in the past four.

“I’m just trying to not get caught up in hitting home runs,” said Stevenson, who had a 20-game hitting streak this spring as a freshman at Valley College. “I’m just trying to get base hits. Everything else will come.”

Eddie Ramos’ single in the fifth extended North’s lead to 3-0.

In the sixth, Kenoi loaded the bases with none out, then almost escaped. But after a force at the plate and a strikeout, he walked No. 9 batter Ferguson, allowing Brandon Witkow to score.

But North broke the game open in the seventh, pounding reliever Dusty Cook for three hits and three more runs.