Kennedy’s Serr Returns From Exile

Three years ago, Jeremy Serr of Kennedy High failed to make the freshman-sophomore baseball team. He was cut during tryouts.

He still remembers the embarrassing day when he discovered his name missing from a players’ list posted on the physical eduction office window.

“That morning, I went over and looked and [my name] wasn’t up there,” he said. “I went and looked again and it still wasn’t up there. I was wondering if I’d get to play again.”

Serr went home and talked with his brother, Kevin, a former All-City catcher at Kennedy. Suddenly, he felt better.

“My brother [said], ‘Don’t worry about not making it this year because there’s always next year and the year after that,’ ” he said.

Serr spent his freshman year in exile playing at Granada Hills Little League. He returned as a sophomore and made Kennedy’s freshman-sophomore team. He played junior varsity baseball as a junior and finally made the varsity this season.

Serr, 6 feet 1 and 187 pounds, starts in left field and has hit five home runs, two fewer than his brother hit in 1995, when Kennedy won the City championship.

Instead of moping and giving up after he was cut, Serr worked on his hitting, fielding and got better.

“I thought I could improve,” he said.

And he has. He is batting .326 with 17 runs batted in.

“He worked hard in the weight room, worked hard at strengthening his arm,” said Kennedy Coach Manny Alvarado. “He’s strong.”

Asked what he learned from his experience, Serr said, “I know if I really want something, I can get it if I try hard enough.”

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Coach Dan Maye of Royal didn’t think it was possible that a pitcher could get 16 strikeouts against his team, but that’s what Matt Harrington of Palmdale did last week while throwing a no-hitter against the Highlanders in the Pomona tournament.

“He was really good,” Maye said. “He was throwing hard. He threw strikes when he needed to. We tell our kids that’s the kind of pitcher, if you’re going to win some playoff games, you have to find a way to get the ball in play.”

Said Harrington: “Everything was working for me. It was one of those games everything was going my way.”

Harrington, a junior, is 4-1 with 27 strikeouts in his last two games.

Scott Rice of Royal had an impressive week at the plate, going eight for 13 with 12 RBIs and three home runs.

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Weather permitting, one of the best pitching matchups of the season is scheduled for today, with Kameron Loe of Granada Hills facing Mike Kunes of Chatsworth at Granada Hills. The 6-foot-7 Loe (5-0) has become a potential high draft pick based on his development this season.

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If shortstop Cole James of Grant misses school, it could be because he’s watching the soap opera, “The Young and the Restless,” which features his mother, Jess, who stars as Jill in the series.

Grant fans always get an update from James on the latest happenings in the show.

James is one of four players batting above .400 for Grant (9-3), which hopes to challenge Sylmar (9-3) and Poly (11-5) for the East Valley League title.

“Everybody figures we’ve had an easy schedule, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity to compete against [Sylmar and Poly),” Grant Coach Jeremy Lawrence said.