Granada Hills East Provides Polish for Kennedy to Shine

Take a look at the teams with the best records in either District 16 or District 20 and a logical pattern develops.

All are fed by high schools with traditionally strong baseball programs, teams that compete for league and section titles every season.

Foothill League champion Hart (Newhall-Saugus), Marmonte champion Royal (Westlake-Royal Oak) and Frontier champion Calabasas (Las Virgenes East) stock three division-leading teams.

But one of the best hasn’t fared so well.

Kennedy won the City Section 4-A Division title the past two seasons and finished the season ranked second in the nation by USA Today.

But Granada Hills East, the District 20 team composed of Golden Cougar players, is mired in ninth place in the Central Valley Division.

Don’t expect a similar result next spring.

Kennedy uses its legion team to develop younger players. That means no graduating seniors play for Granada Hills East, leaving a squad of mostly junior varsity players that struggles against older teams.

This is especially true this season; only four varsity players return for the Golden Cougars. Granada Hills East lost its first five games and is currently 8-13.

But Granada Hills East Coach John Bushart, Kennedy’s pitching coach, has found some positives heading into the final week of the regular season.

Catcher David Lusk, a highly touted junior transfer from Monroe last year, struggled at the plate for the Golden Cougars. By the end of the high school season he had barely lifted his batting average above .200 and was even scratched from the batting order in favor of a designated hitter in several games. This after batting .360 as a sophomore.

But Lusk is batting .432 in the legion season, second on the team behind Jon Garland.

Said Bushart: “He just needed a chance to relax and find his stroke.”

Incoming junior Tim Arroyo has established himself as Kennedy’s likely No. 2 starter next season behind Garland.

Arroyo, a 5-foot-11 left-hander, was the West Valley League junior varsity player of the year last season.

And Garland, who rested his arm after a spectacular run in the City playoffs, is pitching again in preparation for the Area Code Games next month. Tryouts are next weekend.

“It’s a different experience,” Garland said. “This team isn’t here to win, it’s here to learn.”

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Heading into the final week of the regular season, only one team, Newhall-Saugus, is a lock for a District 20 playoff berth.

Newhall-Saugus (20-3) holds a four-game lead over Antelope Valley South in the Northern Division. Newhall-Saugus would have been locked in a battle with Santa Clarita South, but Santa Clarita South was forced last week to forfeit all its victories for using an ineligible player.

In the West Valley Division, Las Virgenes East (16-5) holds a half-game lead over Woodland Hills West; Panorama City (19-4) leads Central Valley and Valley North by 1 1/2 games in the Central Valley; and Van Nuys East (14-6) leads Encino by a half-game in the East Valley.

Each of the four division champions advances to the playoffs next week along with the four teams with the next-best records regardless of division.

But each team has at least three games this week, likely leaving playoff berths up in the air until Sunday, the final day of the regular season.

District 16 continues play for two additional weeks, but only one team advances to the Area 6 playoffs. Westlake-Royal Oaks (12-0 in district play) leads Camarillo by 1 1/2 games.

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The East defeated the West, 9-7, in the District 20 All-Star game Sunday at Birmingham High. Steve Guerrero of Sun Valley hit a two-run single in the fourth inning to give the East the lead for good. Eleven pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts.