Garden Grove, CA — When Tom Monahan took over the coaching duties at Kennedy High School in 2018, he inherited a program that had not seen a lot of success in a while. But he brought in some quality assistants in Isaiah Terrazas to handle the pitchers, John Cross to coach first base and provide analytics and scouting and Tom Daily as bench coach. 
Together they went to work on not only the baseball skills of their charges, but also to instill heart in them, to help them believe in themselves and to develop a heart for winning. As this season went along, their efforts began to show more and more fruit. The Irish began to mold into a team that was scrappy and determined. They were well-balanced with many players stepping up to play vital roles in their growing success. In the words of Coach Monahan, they begin to enjoy winning and they never saw themselves out of a game until the final out was recorded. As a result, they came into Tuesday’s game with an opportunity to clinch second place in the Empire league and guarantee a birth in the post season. The Pacifica Mariners on the other hand, knew that a victory would tie them with Kennedy and set up a final showdown on Thursday. The Mariners sent to the mound a very talented right-hander in Jovanny Reyes. Reyes was up for the challenge with a good, hard fastball complimented by a very sharp breaking curveball. From the start, he had the Irish off balance, as he held them hitless until the 3rd inning and scoreless until the 5th. Kennedy countered with their own fireballer in Wyatt Johnson. Wyatt did not seem as sharp as usual, putting 3 batters on in the first two innings by way of walks or hit by pitch and loading the bases in the second. Nevertheless, as he has done all year, he doggedly kept fighting to keep them from scoring, inning after inning. In the 3rd inning, with two runners on with only 1 out, he seemed to get his rhythm. He forced two consecutive batters to fly out to Evan Anderson in center and end that threat. Reyes, on the other hand, was having his way with the Irish lineup. The only hit he gave up in the first 4 innings was a one-out blast off the bat of Anderson that split the gap in right center and went to the wall. One out later, it looked as if the Irish were going to break through when Albert Munoz drove the ball to deep left only to be robbed of a hit by a remarkable catch by the Pacifica left fielder. It wasn’t until the 5th that the Irish would get another hit. Jason May got a one-out single and Jaelyn Edds worked a walk. Anderson, who had a very good day at the plate and in the field as well, hit what looked to be his second hit of the day but a nice play by the centerfielder retired him and brought up Chase Leonard with two outs and the game still scoreless. Leonard lined a single to left and May sprinted toward home in what would be a very close play. But May slid in safely and the Irish were finally on top with a 1-0 lead. Shortly thereafter, a wild pitch would bring in Edds and Kennedy had a lead of 2-0. In the bottom of the 5th, Pacifica looked as if they were going to answer back when, with a runner on base and two outs, they drove a ball to the gap in deep right center. Anderson, who has played sterling defense all season, took out after the ball in what seemed a hopeless cause. But, if you were not aware of his speed before, you were in for an education on this play. He sprinted an incredible distance to make an unbelievable catch and keep the Mariners off the scoreboard. But Pacifica was not going to give up easily. In the 6th and again in the 7th they put runners on and threatened the Kennedy lead. In both innings, however, Catcher Sebastian McSherry would have none of it. He threw out a runner stealing in the 6th and, for good measure, picked a runner off of second base for the final out of the game. Johnson, finished strong. He went the distance for an impressive shutout, striking out 4 and allowing 6 hits. It was a clutch performance by a young man who has done that repeatedly for the Irish this season. The Irish return home Thursday for Senior Day on the final day of the regular season, as their Post Season Playoff picture begins to develop. Thursday’s first pitch will be at 3pm.