Irvine, CA — It would have been hard to imagine how Kennedy pitching could have improved after Albert Munoz shut out Valencia last week for 7 innings, allowing 4 hits and striking out 6. But improve it did Tuesday, when Wyatt Johnson took the mound against Crean Lutheran and threw a 2 hit shutout, striking out 10 as the Irish defeated Crean 5-0, improving their league record to 2-1. It is difficult to imagine how he could have been more dominating. Only 4 runners reached base against him and none of them advanced past first. And Johnson did not stop at pitching. He led Kennedy with 3 hits in 4 trips to the plate, including a drive over the head of the center fielder for a double in the second inning. He scored the first run for the Irish and drove in the final run. The only time he was retired was when he flied out to the base of the fence in right-center. And he got plenty of support from his offense who collected 11 hits in all. After a quick first, the Irish erupted in the second inning. Johnson led off with his double followed by a one-out triple into the right-field corner by Tyler Beckler. Jason May ripped a double to left-center to bring home Beckler and Kyle Chung dumped a single to center advancing May to third. After Evan Anderson drew a walk, Chase Leonard and Johnny Soto lined two-out RBI singles to bring in the third and fourth runs of the inning. The final scoring of the day came in the 7th when Johnny Soto opened the frame with his second single of the day, advancing to second on an error. Johnson then picked him up with his third hit, an RBI Single. Along with his two-hit game, Leonard put on a great defensive performance with several dazzling plays, including going into deep short in the 6th to backhand a potential hit, turning to make a leaping throw to Chung at second base who relayed it to Munoz for a 6-4-3 double play. It was an encouraging performance for the Kennedy team as they showed character by rebounding from a disappointing loss last Thursday to Valencia. They seemed to play relaxed and loose and display good team chemistry. They are bonding well and appear to enjoy playing together. On Thursday, they welcome the same Crean team to Kennedy’s home field with the first pitch scheduled for 3pm.