Geery Had No Fear for Kennedy

Adam Geery of Kennedy High has a long way to go before equaling the heartthrob status of his distant cousin, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, but he has already topped Leonardo in one department--pitching at Dodger Stadium.

The 16-year-old sophomore right-hander put on a magnificent display of courage Tuesday night in Kennedy’s 4-2 City Championship victory over El Camino Real at Dodger Stadium.

“That kid has a huge heart,” Coach Manny Alvarado said. “He’s so intense. He’s so emotionally mature on the field. I dread going to the mound because I’d have to pry the ball out of his hand.”

Geery (5-5) struck out seven, walked none and finished with a flourish. After Kennedy scored three runs in the top of the seventh to take the lead, Geery retired three consecutive El Camino Real batters, two on strikeouts.

He refused to give All-City shortstop Conor Jackson one last chance to bat with the tying run on base.

“I was praying for one,” Jackson said.

Geery was not the first choice to start on the mound. He pitched a three-hitter last week to defeat Banning, 10-1, in the semifinals. Alvarado considered using Tim St. Pierre, but Geery’s success in big games won out.

“Anybody who went out there would have pitched as hard as he could to win the game,” Geery said. “El Camino Real has one of the toughest lineups I’ve faced.”

Geery’s former club teammate, sophomore pitcher Greg Acheatel, held Kennedy to one hit and no runs through five innings. He pitched the best game of his high school career.

“I’m glad if we didn’t win, [Geery] got to win,” Acheatel said. “He’s a great guy.”

Kennedy (23-11-1) entered the playoffs as the No. 9 seed, but the Golden Cougars left no doubt they deserved to be City champion after knocking off four perennial baseball powers in the playoffs--eighth-seeded Carson, top-seeded Chatsworth, fifth-seeded Banning and sixth-seeded El Camino Real.

Alvarado tried for weeks to bring out the best in his players after they began the season with a 2-6-1 record.

“I’ve been pulling out my hair,” Alvarado said. “This team has been slow starting to breaths of life to rock bottom to where we are now. It was a roller coaster ride. This [City Championship] is no accident. They deserve it. They earned it. I don’t see a selfish bone in our team anymore and I don’t think I could say that a month ago.”

Alvarado took a moment before the playoffs to ask his players for a commitment.

“All I want to do is talk to you guys and look into a bunch of you and see two eyes, with the same goals and same desires,” he told them.

No errors and no walks. Defense and pitching. That’s how Kennedy was able to defeat El Camino Real.

“That’s a formula to win any championship,” Alvarado said.

From center fielder Danny Mata’s running catches to shortstop Juan Sepulveda’s flawless fielding to catcher Phil Avlas’ scooping up pitches in the dirt, the Golden Cougars made every play.

Left fielder Brandon Burton said the defensive wizardry is no accident.

“It’s the small things in practice,” Burton said.

It’s going to be hard to defeat Kennedy next season. The Golden Cougars return all three of their starting pitchers--Geery, St. Pierre and Mata, plus two backups, Burton and sophomore Eric Moore. All-City catcher Avlas also returns, along with second baseman Chad Shaw.