Hard Work Paying Off for Kracow

Two months ago, Steve Kracow was judged not good enough to start for the Chatsworth High baseball team.

“I was kind of mad,” he said. “I was thinking if halfway through the season I’m not starting, it’s not worth my time. Then I started working hard. I busted my butt and got my chance.”

In a matter of weeks, Kracow has gone from a player not hitting at all to batting cleanup in the Chancellors’ powerful lineup. He has transformed himself from a reserve senior player into a potential All-City selection.

“He’s on one of those [hitting] streaks you hope he doesn’t wake up from,” assistant coach Matt LaCour said.

In two City Section playoff games, Kracow is seven for seven. In his last 10 games, he is hitting .733 (22 for 30) with 10 doubles and 15 runs batted in. For the season, he’s hitting .500 (32 for 64).

Kracow was almost a casualty of open enrollment. He was the odd man out when brothers Jason and Jeff Spector transferred from Taft. Kracow had played third base all his life. But Jeff Spector won the job, leaving Kracow without a position.

“I was frustrated,” he said.

When catcher Loren Devries quit the team after the sixth game, it opened a spot in the lineup. Kracow moved to right field and started showing what he could do.

“When I wasn’t playing, we’d do drills where the starting lineup would hit and the other guys were in the outfield,” Kracow said. “I knew that’s not where I should be and if I worked hard I could get to where I wanted to be.”

Kracow is one victory away from finishing his high school career as the starting right fielder at Dodger Stadium. Top-seeded Chatsworth (25-3) will play South Gate Tuesday in a City Championship semifinal game at Birmingham. There no longer is any doubt he belongs in the lineup.

“I knew I could play with these guys,” he said.

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Since Poly High opened at its Sun Valley campus in 1957, the baseball team has lost four times at Dodger Stadium in the City Championship game. What will it take for the Parrots to finally win it all? Try a pitcher with the heart of Carlos Reguengo.

He is 13-2 with a 1.90 earned-run average. He pitched the maximum 10 innings last week in the opening two rounds of the City playoffs and is ready go 10 innings this week.

“Every time I pitch, [my arm] gets stronger and stronger,” Reguengo said. “I have to give it my all.”

He has played baseball since he was 5 and started at San Val Little League. He has one of the largest and loudest cheering sections. His father, mother, uncle, aunt, cousin and girlfriend all come to Poly games to support him.

Reguengo usually responds with a gritty performance. He has won more than 30 games in his Poly career. He throws his curveball for strikes and possesses the kind of energy and enthusiasm that inspires teammates to raise their own level of play.

Next up for the Parrots is a Tuesday semifinal game against Kennedy at Valley College.

“We want to be known as the team of the century, the team that gave Poly its first championship in baseball,” Reguengo said.

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When it comes to prolific coaching performances, no one comes close to what Manny Alvarado of Kennedy has accomplished this season.

The Cougars had won three City championships and advanced to the semifinals five consecutive seasons, but Alvarado’s 1999 team was supposed to be his weakest since he became Kennedy’s coach in 1989.

The Cougars started the season 0-4. The senior class was considered so weak, Alvarado started three sophomores and a freshman. Everyone thought he was building toward next season, right?

So how in the name of common sense can Kennedy (18-15) be one win away from playing for the City Championship at Dodger Stadium?

“I never said they were terrible,” Alvarado said. “They’re young, they’re inexperienced, they’re starting to believe. It seems like a couple different guys step up every game. Our goal was to keep improving every day and hopefully make the playoffs. We kept talking, ‘All it takes is a four-game win streak at the end of the year.’ ”

Kennedy’s top players are no longer no-names. Freshman pitcher-third baseman Adam Geary keeps coming through in clutch situations. Junior shortstop Juan Sepulveda has five hits in the playoffs after suffering a hitting slump in conference play.

Senior outfielder Jeremy Serr has hit nine home runs, two more than his brother, Kevin, hit on Kennedy’s 1995 City title team. Sophomore Phil Avlas could be one of the best catchers in school history.

“They’re all going to be quality players,” Alvarado said.

Sophomore pitcher Danny Mata, who’s 5 feet 5 and weighs 125 pounds, survived a verbal barrage from Banning fans earlier this week. They were calling him Yoda, Alf and Willow. He showed great poise in focusing on the game and not what the fans were yelling. The whole team is growing up fast, and that makes the Cougars very dangerous, indeed.

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Second baseman Scott Gilmore of El Camino Real tossed and turned but couldn’t sleep Thursday night. He was staying at the home of teammate Ryan Gunches while trying to come to terms with his seventh-inning error that allowed Juan Guerrero to hit a game-winning two-out, two-run home run in Poly’s 4-3 City quarterfinal playoff victory.

“He feels terrible,” Gunches said.

Gilmore spent the night thinking about his teammates.

“The main thing that went through my head was, ‘What can I do to make it up to the people I hurt?’ ” he said. “It was a guilty feeling.”

Gunches did what a good friend is supposed to do--he offered unconditional support.

“Gunches has been more than a friend to me,” Gilmore said. “When the chips were down, he stood behind me.”

El Camino Real had a pupil-free day Friday, so the two had breakfast together, then went to a driving range to hit golf balls. The day off didn’t help Gilmore feel any better.

“It’s almost worse today,” he said.

The days will get easier for Gilmore. He’ll learn there are more-important things in life than who wins a baseball game. He’s facing an early test in dealing with adversity. How he comes through it can make him stronger for the challenges that lie ahead.

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at his e-mail address: Eric.Sondheimer@latimes.com.