WEST REGIONAL REPORT : Kennedy: Regional Appeal

Adam Kennedy, the hottest hitter at the regional, leads all players in hits, home runs and runs batted in.

The performance has been especially meaningful for the sophomore shortstop because he felt slighted by not being named to the All-Western Athletic Conference team.

“He may not have been All-WAC, but I’ll guarantee he’ll be on the all-regional team,” tournament official Gary Migdol said.

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Robert Crabtree, who earned his fourth save by recording the final out in Northridge’s 20-19 victory over Mississippi State, was a teammate of Bulldog catcher Blake Anderson for two years in the Alaskan Summer League. Their team, Key-Nine, won the National Baseball Congress championship both summers.

“I wanted to face you, Crabby,” Anderson said with a smile. He had tripled one night earlier against former Key-Nine teammate Mario Iglesias of Stanford.

Crabtree was warming up when Anderson came to the plate with a runner on first and the score 20-19 and singled to chase Gary Stephenson. Crabtree came on to retire the next hitter.

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The not-so-subtle competition between catchers Robert Fick of Northridge and A.J. Hinch of Stanford went Fick’s way through Saturday night.

Fick, a Collegiate Baseball first-team All-American, was seven for 14 with eight RBIs, one double and one home run. Hinch, a second-team choice this year and consensus All-American last season, was three for 12 with a double, triple and four RBIs.

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Jon Schaeffer continued to be a thorn in the side of the Matadors. The designated hitter from Harvard-Westlake High is Stanford’s leading hitter in the regional, going six for 12.

Schaeffer had three hits in Stanford’s first-round victory over Northridge and added a double and Saturday night.