La Palma, CA — If the Kennedy Fighting Irish were a little tense, it was understandable. After an outstanding season that saw them fall just short of the Empire League crown, they were doing what no-one would have expected 3 months earlier. They were beginning play in the CIF postseason for the first time in years. The Mayfair Monsoons arrived at the Kennedy Field and wasted no time in challenging the Irish hopes. Their first 3 batters reached base and one out later, they pushed home a run and were on the verge of cashing in a bunch. A ground ball up the middle spelled disaster until Chase Leonard intercepted it and tossed it to Jaelyn Edds at second. Jaylen relayed it to Albert Munoz and the Irish were out of a jam trailing only 1-0. The Irish wasted no time in answering back in their half of the opening frame, when Leonard, Munoz and Johnson put together a series of hits that brought home two runs to take a 2-1 lead and give starter Wyatt Johnson some room to work. Kennedy would never trail again. They scored 4 in the 3rd, added 3 more in the 4th, and then blasted 6 home in the 6th. Mayfair answered with 3 of their own in the 5th bringing the final score to 15-4 in an opening round victory for the Irish. When a team scores 15 runs, there is no shortage of players that made contribution. In fact, it might have been the most balanced hitting attack of the season. To start with, senior 2nd baseman Edds had a career day. He blasted a hit in each of his first 4 trips to the plate, driving in 2 runs and scoring 2 runs. Besides a strong 5 1/3 innings of work on the mound, Johnson also had a solid afternoon at the plate, reaching base 4 times on 3 hits and an intentional walk and scoring 2 of the Irish runs. One of his hits was a blast that split the outfield and rolled all the way to the fence in left-center. Albert Munoz added 3 more hits to go along with a walk, an RBI and 2 runs scored. Leonard and McSherry had almost identical stats at the plate. Each reached base 4 times with 2 hits, a walk and were both hit by a pitch. McSherry scored 2 runs and Leonard scored one. Evan Anderson ripped a double to the corner in right, reaching base 3 times and scoring twice. Tyler Beckler and Ryan Cathcart each contributed a hit and Beckler collected an RBI. Johnson went a solid 5 1/3 innings, giving up 10 hits and all 4 of the Mayfair runs. He also struck out 8 batters. Sam Moctezuma relieved Johnson with one out in the 6th and turned in a fine performance. He faced 5 batters and retired each of them, striking out one to seal the victory. The Irish return to CIF 2nd Round action on Tuesday.