Kennedy softball stuns Granada Hills in dramatic City playoff victory
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GRANADA HILLS — Alyssa Senteno heard the bang of the bat and started running from second base. The sophomore’s eyes were fixed on her third base coach, who was waiving her home.
“I was running for my life,” Senteno said. “There were two outs, so I knew I was going no matter what.”
Two outs and the game tied at six in the seventh inning.
Senteno slid into home, brushed the plate with her left hand and avoided the tag to score the game-winning run and give seventh-seeded Kennedy a dramatic 7-6 victory over second-seeded Granada Hills in the City Section Open Division softball playoffs Wednesday afternoon.
Junior Kiara Martinez delivered the hit that scored Senteno.
As the umpire called Senteno safe, the cloud of dust from the play at the plate became the backdrop for a grandiose celebration. Cueing the team’s go-to chant, “Eat! Eat! Eat! Eat!”, the girls yelled hopping up and down in excitement.
“Our energy was very important today,” Martinez said. “We use it to motivate each other.”
The Cougars will travel to No. 6 Carson on Tuesday to play in the semifinals. Carson defeated No. 3 Birmingham Charter 7-2.
“As a senior, it was very exciting,” said Kennedy’s Alondra Dominguez of the go-ahead run. “It felt like a championship game.”
Go-ahead run for Kennedy in the top of the 7th inning. Cougars take a 7-6 lead over Granada Hills on this play at the plate.
Is she safe? Is she out? You be the judge. pic.twitter.com/Q5xL3TatIL
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) May 12, 2022
Kennedy led 6-0 at one point. Alondra Dominguez hit a three-run homer in the first inning to give the Cougars a shocking 3-0 lead before Jayleen Piedra’s triple made it 6-0 in the third. But Granada Hills stormed back with four runs in the bottom of the third anchored by a two-run homerun from Samantha Esparza before a homerun from Jocelyn Jimenez tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the fifth.
“These girls played their hearts out,” Granada Hills interim head coach Dennis Mealey said.
Mealey, the program’s junior varsity head coach, had to step in and take over as the varsity head coach on April 18 after the varsity staff, including head coach Ivan Garcia, were put on administrative leave. According to sources, an anonymous letter to school administration from a disgruntled parent prompted the decision.
“I’ve had to learn all the girls’ names, how they play, the pitching rotations in the middle of the season,” Mealey said. “Most of the girls on varsity I’ve never coached.”
The final out.
No. 7 Kennedy pulls off the shocker, taking down No. 2 Granada Hills 7-6 in the City Section Open Division playoffs.
Unreal game. pic.twitter.com/uMkfa7NOYe
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) May 12, 2022
It’s the second time an anonymous letter from a parent has forced a coach out at Granada Hills. Garcia is still on campus teaching, but longtime boys’ basketball coach Don Loperena was not so lucky in 2020. After coaching and teaching at the school for 16 years, Loperena was let go from the school sparked by turmoil from an anonymous letter.
Ironically, Loperena now coaches and teaches at Kennedy High.
EL CAMINO REAL ADVANCES
No. 1-seeded El Camino Real beat Eagle Rock 14-4 thanks to pitcher Brooke DeSmet who gave up just one hit. ECR will host San Pedro Tuesday in the City Section Open Division semifinal.