La Palma, CA — The stretch run of the Empire League pennant race began Wednesday when the Tustin Tillers visited the Fighting Irish on the Kennedy home field. Wyatt Johnson took the mound for the Irish who were seeking to start a new winning streak after their 9 game roll was halted last Saturday by Canyon High School. The Tillers broke out of the blocks quickly, putting two runners on with one out in the first before the fans had even warmed up their bleacher seats. But Johnson put an end to that, striking out the side in what would be the first of an amazing strikeout performance on the afternoon. Johnson would go on to fan a total of 12 Tustin batters on the way to a 3 hit complete game. Kennedy also threatened in the bottom of the first when Johnny Soto walked and Johnson ripped a double. But they died in scoring position when Sebastian McSherry skied a drive that fell short of the fence in left. The contest quickly became a pitching duel as both sides went down meekly in the second inning, but Tustin took the lead in the third when Sergio Alfaro blasted a home run that cleared the fence in left. The next batter, Abel Castrejon followed with a single and it looked as if the Tillers might be figuring Johnson out. But, such was not the case. That single was the last hit they would have as Johnson retired the next 7 batters in row and allowed only a pair of walks the rest of the afternoon. The 1-0 Tustin lead was short-lived. In the fourth, McSherry strode to the plate and blasted a towering drive to left-center that landed in the driveway behind the fence for his second home run of the year and tying the game at 1-1. That’s the way the score remained until the bottom of the 6th when Kennedy would put together an improbable rally. Johnson led off that inning by being hit by a pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch. With first base open, Tustin was not about to let McSherry hurt them again, so they signaled an intentional walk. Tyler Beckler then laid down a beautiful bunt moving both runners into scoring position and Tustin issued another intentional pass to Kyle Chung to load the bases. That put it up to Jaelyn Edds. The Senior second baseman quickly found himself in a 0-2 count with his back to the wall. But he would not back down. He lined the next pitch to center field bringing home one run and setting up a close play at the plate that saw McSherry diving home with a second run. That was all the Irish needed as Johnson struck out his 11th and 12th batters in the 7th to seal the victory 3-1. The usually potent Kennedy offense was held to just 5 hits on the day. Besides those mentioned by Johnson and Edds and the home run by McSherry, Chase Leonard and Albert Munoz added doubles of their own, rounding out the hitting attack for the Irish. The Irish now travel to Tustin on Friday to conclude their season series with the Tillers. Game time is 3pm.