Newport Beach, CA — In the course of a long season there are many different kinds of days. As for Thursday, and their game against the Corona Del Mar Sea Kings, it will probably be a day that the Kennedy Fighting Irish will remember with less than fondness in their hearts. Kennedy did jump out to an early lead in the second when Jason May lashed a groundball single up the middle and Kyle Chung drove him home with solid double to right center. May stole the run with a leaping, diving slide at the plate, giving the Irish their only lead of the day. But it took just one swing of the bat for the Sea Kings to even the score in their bottom half when Keller Strauss drove the ball over the fence in right field. Then, in the third, the first 5 Corona Del Mar batters hit safely and came home on Nick Rottler’s grand slam to center. From that point, Corona Del Mar would not look back as they cruised to a 9-1 victory. In all, the Sea Kings unleashed 13 hits accompanied by 5 walks, a hit batter and 3 homers. But it is not as if the Kennedy bats were silent. Ryan Cathcart led the way with 2 hits and should have had a third when he laced a line drive up the middle only to have it deflect off the pitchers leg and re-route to the second-baseman. Sebastian McSherry singled sharply to center and drove one to the warning track before it was chased down. Tyler Beckler continued his hot start by belting a line drive double in his two official trips to the plate. Chung and David Roman also both swung the bat well. In addition to the RBI double in the 2nd, Chung ripped another line drive that the center fielder raced in to catch in the fourth. It would have been a hit if it was just 10 feet to the left. And, in the 6th, he sent the shortstop deep into the hole to throw him out. All three were quality at bats. Roman smoked a groundball into left field for his one hit of the day but also lined a “hot to handle” groundball through the third basemen’s legs in his second plate appearance, reaching on the error. While the Irish did commit 3 errors on the day defensively, they also saw some good glove work. Chase Leonard had one of his better games at short, making a diving stop up the middle, then ranging to his right on the very next play to make a tough stop and force out at second. He started a double play to end the tumultuous 3rd inning and made another nice play in the 5th. On that occasion, Beckler had dove to his left to slow down a liner headed to left field. Leonard alertly sprinted over to recover the deflection and nail the runner at first. And for the fourth time in 2 games, the Kennedy right fielder turned a clean single to right into a force out at first. This time it was Chung connecting with Wyatt Johnson. The Irish will not have long to wait for a chance to get themselves back in the win column. They welcome Roosevelt to their home diamond Friday at 3pm.