Kennedy Bolts to 6-0 Lead, Then Survives a Late Rally

There’s a reason why they are called insurance runs.

Kennedy High scored three second-inning runs to grab the early momentum in a Northwest Valley Conference baseball game Tuesday against Granada Hills, but it was the three runs the Golden Cougars added over the next three innings that insured the victory.

So when the Highlanders rallied for four runs in the sixth, Kennedy was able to hold on to a 6-4 victory and extend its winning streak to 10 games. The victory gave the first-place Golden Cougars (17-3, 9-2) a four-game lead in the North Valley League standings. Granada Hills fell to 11-8, 5-6.

“Maybe that’s one of the problems with winning so much and having your offense working well,” Kennedy Coach Manny Alvarado said. “You tend to think you’ve won before you actually have.”

Kennedy, which has scored 89 runs during its streak, scored three runs on three hits and sent nine batters to the plate in the second. Granada Hills starter Josh Goldberg (5-4) contributed to Kennedy’s output with three walks and two wild pitches before being replaced by John Bolyard in the third.

Kevin Serr extended the lead to 4-0 in the third inning with his second home run in two games. After a slow start, Serr, the only junior on The Times’ All-Valley team in 1994, leads area City Section players with five home runs.

“I wasn’t being very patient at all when we started the season,” Serr said. “I was feeling a lot of pressure, but it helped when everyone else in our lineup started hitting well. I became more patient.”

The Golden Cougars added runs on a fourth-inning single by Mike Ramirez and a fifth-inning double by Christian Bartlett for a 6-0 lead.

Junior Derek Morse (5-2) allowed three hits through the first five innings.

But in the sixth, doubles by Jerrod Penwarden, Jimmy Landress and Sean Lavery quickly cut the lead to 6-3. Morse then retired Randy Garza on a groundout as a run scored, then Nick Pikor popped out to end the threat.