Written by Ernie Stone

Hart’s Garrett Gooding struck out four batters in relief while adding three hits and an RBI in a convincing 11-1 victory over Kennedy in the first round of the Valley Invitational Baseball League playoffs on Thursday.

“We were all over the plate. Even the outs we hit were well struck,” said Hart coach Jim Ozella.

Hart’s offense was firing on all cylinders as they tallied 16 hits including a home run by junior first baseman Alex Tenorio.

The win marks the second time Hart has defeated Kennedy. The team’s previous win being an 8-1 decision on July 10.

Kennedy centerfielder Andrew Hernandez was optimistic, “It’s disappointing to lose to them again, but we still got a lot of baseball this year.”

Hart moves on to the second round of the VIBL playoffs and will face Chatsworth on Saturday. Chatsworth beat Golden Valley, 5-1.

Gooding, when asked about Hart’s next opponent commented, “We had a chance to beat them the last two times we played, I would not be surprised if we came through next time.”

In other first-round playoff games, Valencia beat Simi Valley, 14-11 and Saugus beat Granada Hills, 11-5.