No D in Duel; Kennedy Wins

In a pitching duel with a pronounced lack of defense, Jon Garland and Kennedy High defeated Shaun Fishman and El Camino Real, 6-4, Tuesday in a Northwest Valley Conference baseball game.

The senior right-handers battled for six innings before Garland was relieved. Neither pitcher was overpowering, yet each showed why he is among the region’s top prospects.

Kennedy broke a 3-3 tie by scoring three times in the fifth inning, including the winning runs on a two-out, two-run home run by catcher David Lusk.

El Camino Real (3-3) had runners on first and second in the bottom of the seventh, but Kurt Birkins took a called third strike to end the game.

The teams combined for nine errors, seven by Kennedy (4-2).

Garland (2-0) allowed five hits and three runs, one of them earned, in six innings. He struck out eight, walked two, threw two wild pitches and hit a batter. Of his 75 pitches, 40 were strikes.

“The first couple of innings I was too relaxed,” Garland said. “But I started getting stronger and working harder as the game went on.”

Fishman (1-2) pitched an eight-hitter and struck out 11 but surrendered six runs, five of them earned. He did not walk a batter and went to a three-ball count on only three batters.

Fishman threw 96 pitches, 56 of them strikes. His two losses have come by a total of three runs. He lost, 1-0, to Antelope Valley and standout senior pitcher Sean Douglass on an unearned run earlier in the season.

He reflected on his disappointing setbacks after the game.

“It’s kind of frustrating but that’s baseball,” Fishman said. “And it’s another lesson in adversity.”

El Camino Real Coach Mike Maio knows he has a sure thing in Fishman, but is perplexed by the rest of the Conquistadores.

“The only thing we did well was Shaun’s pitching,” Maio said. “You can’t ask for much more than what he’s given us.”

El Camino Real led, 1-0, after an inning. Ben Cliffords singled and stole second as Lusk’s throw sailed into the outfield. Golden Cougar center fielder Josh Miranda backed up the play but overran the ball and Cliffords scored.

Kennedy took a 3-1 lead in the second on a two-run home run from Adrian Perez. Aron Rofer scored the other run by reaching base on an error, going to third on two fielder’s choices and coming home on a double by Miranda.

El Camino Real scored single runs in the second and third, and added a run in the seventh on a home run by pinch-hitter Jason Sabolic with one out.

Kennedy, two-time defending City Section 4-A Division champion, appears to have righted its ship after early losses to South Gate and Chaminade.

“It’s a young team and some of the young guys didn’t work hard enough,” Garland said.

“They thought they could just show up and win. But we had a talk with them. We’re playing our game again.”