Sophomore Was Heads Up in the Clutch

Eric Moore answers to the nickname “Ostrich” among his Kennedy High teammates.

Never mind that Moore, a sophomore designated hitter, stands only 5 feet 11.

“The guys were just saying if I was an animal, what would I be?” Moore said. “I’ve been ‘Ostrich’ all year. And it seemed like every time they called me ostrich I got a hit.”

Moore, Kennedy’s No. 9 hitter, stood tall when it counted most, belting a two-run triple in the seventh inning that provided the game-winning runs for Kennedy in the Golden Cougars’ 4-2 victory over El Camino Real for the City Championship on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

Moore’s two-out line drive rolled to the wall in left-center field and Moore capped the play with a head-first slide at third that delighted Kennedy fans.

Moore was selected the game’s most valuable player.

“It was an outside pitch, and all year I’ve been working on going to the opposite field,” Moore said.

Not bad for a player who began the season on the junior varsity and didn’t find his place in the varsity lineup until midseason.

“They gave me my chances and I did it,” Moore said. “I didn’t think at all at the beginning of the season that I would be here now, starting. It started from midseason on. I just started hitting.”

“He was our hottest hitter down the stretch,” Coach Manny Alvarado said. “I said, ‘We gotta bring him up.’ ”

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El Camino Real might be the only school in the nation with a player and a coach drafted Tuesday.

Shortstop Conor Jackson was selected by Cleveland in the 31st round and pitching coach Kurt Birkins, a former All-City left-hander for the Conquistadores, was picked by Baltimore in the 33rd round.

Birkins had a scholarship to UCLA but took this season off.

“I took the time off to mature mentally and physically,” Birkins said.

Birkins, who played in the City final in 1997 and 1998, knew he might be drafted.

“I was told a week ago, ‘Don’t be surprised if you see your name in the draft,’ ” Birkins said.

Said Jackson: “It’s pretty weird.”

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For the third time in four years, the El Camino Real “Maternal Vortex” went into action.

About 30 people, from players to parents to friends, gathered at catcher Mike Leduc’s home for a pregame pasta load.

“We review the previous championship tapes and we talk about those games,” said Ray Leduc, Mike’s father.

This year’s meal was prepared by Leduc’s mother, Robin; outfielder Sean McElroy’s mother, Arlene, and Greg Acheatel’s mother, Michelle.

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El Camino Real and Kennedy players weren’t the only ones excited about playing at Dodger Stadium.

The Conquistador batboy, Shaun Kort, 12-year-old brother of first baseman Jason Kort, and Clay Rodriguez, 10, the son of Kennedy assistant Andy Rodriguez, were thrilled.

“He’s stoked,” Jason said about Shaun.

Rodriguez got the job with a bit of clever penmanship.

“As soon as we made it [to Dodger Stadium], he wrote a letter to [Coach] Manny [Alvarado], asking to be the batboy and saying he wants to play for the [Golden] Cougars one day,” Andy said.