La Quinta’s Kennedy Upstages Pilkington
A handful of major league scouts came to Santiago High Friday toting radar guns and cards on which to chart Cavalier right-hander Brian Pilkington’s every pitch.
Pilkington, a senior who has made it clear he intends to turn pro in June, is rated as the 55th best high school prospect in the nation by Baseball America. He had a 0.42 earned-run average and 38 strikeouts in 32 innings entering Santiago’s Garden Grove League game against La Quinta.
But by the fourth inning, with Pilkington laboring and Aztec sophomore starter Ian Kennedy well on his way to a fifth complete game, the scouts couldn’t help but turn their attention to Kennedy.
“We’re going to have to come back here in two years to see this guy,” one scout said to another.
Kennedy struck out six and gave up only one earned run in No. 3 La Quinta’s 7-2 victory over Santiago that put the Aztecs (14-1, 5-1) firmly in control of the league race.
Perhaps more impressive, Kennedy (6-0) refused to listen to La Quinta Coach Dave Demarest, who told his young star not to worry about his performance because it would be “Brian Pilkington’s day.”
Kennedy held Santiago without an extra-base hit but failed to retire Pilkington, who singled in each of his three at-bats to record half of Santiago’s hits.
Pilkington (4-2) was not as impressive on the mound, where he struck out three and gave up five earned runs in four innings.
The Aztecs scored a run in the first and went ahead, 4-0, in the third on Ian Stewart’s run-scoring double, Arnulfo Arroyo’s RBI single off the glove of Cavalier third baseman Daniel Florido and Kennedy’s RBI groundout.
Santiago (5-5, 2-4) rallied for both its runs in the bottom of the inning, but Kennedy escaped by inducing Lee Sutherland to hit into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.
In the end, it was Kennedy’s day, one that could lead to scouts watching his every move two years down the road.
“Hopefully, that will happen,” Kennedy said, “if I can keep going the way I am.”
In other Garden Grove League games:
Bolsa Grande 6, Pacifica 4--Bolsa Grande’s Fil Covarrubias struck out the side in the seventh to pick up his first save of the year, and was two for two with an RBI double.
Garden Grove 10, Los Amigos 0 (5, mercy)--Freshman Dana Schaeffer pitched all five innings with five strikeouts to get his first varsity victory for Garden Grove (10-6, 3-3), which drew six walks.
