De Anza splits season series, defeat Kennedy 12-4

Kennedy Eagles’ head coach Tim Logan sat on a milk crate near first base during the top of the third inning Friday afternoon and watched his team fall behind 10 runs to the visiting De Anza Dons. While Logan sat outside the dugout keeping the book, no permissible players sat in the dugout with rally caps on rooting for their teammates to make a comeback. Fragmented by poor academic achievement, the first-year head coach now faces a different kind of foul ball—enough bodies to field a roster.

The game itself almost didn’t happen. De Anza’s bus broke down at their campus, and Kennedy’s ninth player didn’t walk onto the diamond until 30 minutes after the scheduled first pitch. Logan said once everything was sorted, the umps allowed a five-inning game.

In the first inning De Anza sent nine batters to the plate and scored four runs before Kennedy recorded their first out. The second inning saw much of the same as the Dons tacked on seven more runs. And before the Eagles knew it they were down 12-2.

Trailing 10 runs after two innings, Logan had seen enough and told the umpires to call the game if the Eagles didn’t score any runs in their next at bat. “It’s about effort,” he said about his team’s lackluster effort. “Regardless if you don’t have the best players on your team. It’s about putting your best foot forward and letting everything else fall into play.”

Inspired by the prospect of calling the game after three innings, the Eagles buckled down, scored two more runs and retired nine of the next 11 batters. But it was a little too late as De Anza defeated Kennedy 12-4.

On Saturday, Kennedy put more runs on the board but continued its slide, losing to Leadership Public School 15-8.