WALKING AWAY WITH THE CHAMPIONSHIP.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore

A short while after Kennedy of Granada Hills beat Chatsworth 4-2 in the City Section baseball championship on a sun-swept Saturday afternoon, Brandon Ashford scooped up a handful of dirt from the Dodger Stadium infield and emptied it into a container.

Years from now, he'll display it prominently on a mantel inside his home, a symbolic reminder of the part he played in helping Kennedy win its seventh City title.

But for now, he might want to rub some on a lottery ticket.

Kennedy won the game in commanding fashion, using a dominating pitching performance by Fabian Williamson and a sixth-inning, four-run breakout against Chatsworth ace Josh Ravin to upset the top-seeded Chancellors.

But a little good fortune was mixed in, too. And it couldn't have come at a better time.

With the Golden Cougars trailing 1-0 with one out and two on in the sixth, it appeared as though Ashford struck out swinging for the second out.

But the home-plate umpire ruled he didn't complete his swing.

Chatsworth manager Tom Meusborn vehemently argued the call, to no avail. Ashford, given new life, ultimately worked a walk to load the bases. That set the stage for Carlos Gonzalez and Chris Ornelas to smack back-to-back, two-run doubles to break the game open.

By the end of the inning, the Cougars had five hits, four runs and were on their way to another City championship, this one over a distinguished opponent that came into the game with only two losses.

Or eight fewer than the overachieving Cougars.

It's great to be good, as Kennedy proved. But a little luck doesn't hurt either.

"I didn't swing, I definitely didn't swing," Ashford said afterward. "As soon as the play was over, I looked at the home-plate ump, and he called ball. So I went back to the box looking to help my team win."

Ravin had no-hit the Cougars through five innings, taking a 1-0lead into the sixth and looking very much like a pitcher ready to close out a championship.

But other plans were being formulated inside the Kennedy dugout. Ravin had confused the Cougars through the first fiveinnings by working away and up, and they insisted it was only a matter of time before he left one up a little too high.

Jacob Miranda led off the inning by driving a ball into right field for a single. Nestor Macias followed with another single.

Ravin, so dominating in the previous five innings, now looked vulnerable.

"We didn't feel a sense of urgency because we knew we'd eventually get to him," Miranda said. "It was getting pretty late, and he was definitely pitching a good game, but we're a resilient team and we knew if we hung in there good things would happen."

Once Ashford got the reprieve, he knew a walk was as good as a hit.

"My first thought was to get a big hit, definitely," he said. "But I also knew I could help my team simply by getting on base. I had total confidence in the guys hitting behind me."

Gonzalez and Ornelas, both sophomores, sent deep line drives to the outfield for their two-run doubles to give the Cougars a 4-1 lead.

Gonzalez was a .243 hitter during the season and Ornelas hit just .246.

"All you're looking to do is get the job done anyway you can," Ornelas said.

Chatsworth watched in disbelief, as did its stunned fans.

Inside the Kennedy dugout, there was conviction. Coming into the game nobody was predicting a Cougars win, let alone a four-run rally in the sixth inning against a pitcher as dominating as Ravin.

"You have to understand the heart of this team to understand that sixth inning," Gonzalez said. "We knew what the situation was. The guy was pitching a great game, and we're sitting there looking at six more outs in our season. But there wasn't any panic and there wasn't any worry. We've found a way to get it done every time this year, and this was no different."