Kennedy jumps out fast and earns first CIF title in 30 years with 7-1 victory over Sonora

Kennedy players celebrate after winning the CIF title Saturday (Photo: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

It’s been a while since a Kennedy High baseball team had that special feeling.

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But the Fighting Irish got to experience it Saturday night, defeating top-seeded Sonora 7-1 in the CIF Division 4 championship game at UC Riverside.

The Fighting Irish won their first CIF title since 1989 when the school captured its only CIF crown and hundreds of happy Kennedy fans were on hand to support the team.

“This is fantastic, our players really worked hard this year,” said Kennedy Coach Tom Monahan. “They were very confident and wanted this badly all year. I’m really happy for them.”

Kennedy players and coaches felt they didn’t get that much respect despite an outstanding record (now 26-9).

“We kind of felt we were kind of slighted throughout the entire year and we did play with kind of a chip on our shoulder throughout the playoffs, because we felt if we made the playoffs, we felt we were going to make a run for the championship,” Monahan said. “This is the most victories ever in school history. We really didn’t get a lot of recognition.”

Junior Wyatt Johnson (13-1) went the distance striking out 12 and allowed three hits, two in the seventh when Sonora scored its only run.

“It was an amazing game, we came out strong out of the gate,” he said. “Our team put up seven and that means we could have given up six but it was a 7-1 game at the end and it was enough to get the win. It made my job easy.

“First time in 30 years, it feels amazing. We’re all together, we all love each other.”

Kennedy jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two innings with four runs in the second and three in the third inning.

“We were hitting good pitches and letting all the bad pitches go,” Monahan said. “We drove up the pitch count by their pitcher and we were attacking good pitches.”

Kennedy was led by Tyler Beckler, who was 3 for 4 with a double and two runs scored.

“Tyler Beckler was phenomenal today with three hits,” Monahan said.

Jason May, the number nine hitter, had a two-run single in the second inning. Albert Michael-Munoz also had an RBI double in the inning.

The Fighting Irish kept rolling in the third inning scoring three more runs on five hits. Beckler had an RBI double and Chase Leonard an RBI single.

Sonora broke the shutout bid in the seventh inning. Luis Chavarin led off with a single and scored on a triple by Isaac Ramirez.

Sonora starter Hector Garcia, who came in with an 11-0 record, was tagged with seven runs, five earned before giving way to Justin Estrada in the third inning.

It was a tough ending to a great year for Sonora (20-9). The Raiders were trying for their third CIF title and first since 1995.

“I’m very proud of them for what they’ve done this year,” said Sonora Coach Richard Lodding. “We didn’t execute or plan what we wanted today, but like I told them, they need to hold their heads high for what our turn-around was for one year. I couldn’t be more proud of these kids.”

Lodding said it was clear what happened in the early innings.

“We got the ball up and didn’t hit our spots of how we wanted to attack them,” Lodding said. “They did a good job of coming out swinging but we had a game plan and we didn’t hit our spots.”

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com

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-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com