STATWATCH : Kennedy’s .400 Club Beating Opposition

Kennedy, which could take the Mid-Valley League title today with a win at Birmingham, has won nine consecutive games, thanks largely to some booming bats.

In 14 league games, second baseman Mike Schlesinger is batting .479, has 14 runs scored and 23 hits; designated-hitter V. P. Pajcin is batting .381 with 16 hits, 12 runs batted in and 4 home runs; outfielder Shawn Madden is batting .444 with 18 RBIs and 5 homers; shortstop Gino Tagliaferri is batting .400 with 13 runs scored and 15 RBIs; and infielder Pat DeBoer is batting .432 and has 13 runs scored and 11 RBIs.

Kennedy’s pitching also has been strong. Colin Hines (8-2, 1.65), brothers Brian Roth (6-1, 0.97) and Scott Roth (2-1, 3.20), Arnie Aguinaga (0-0, 3.50) and Jason Farrell (1-3, 3.71) have combined for a staff earned-run average of 2.19.

Add Mid-Valley: Kennedy’s league rival, Granada Hills, has been struggling. While four Kennedy players have 11 or more RBIs in league play alone, the Highlanders, in 18 games, have only two players with more than 11. Second baseman Chris Murphy has a team-high 16 and Darryl Stephenson has 15. Kennedy currently has nine players batting .300 or better, while Granada Hills has four. Sean Brown, the cleanup hitter, is batting .271 with no home runs and 11 RBIs.

Pitching: Three San Fernando pitchers have earned-run averages of less than 2.35. Sophomore left-hander Hector De La Cruz (4-0) has been the most consistent starter, allowing five earned runs in 21 innings (1.67 ERA). Senior right-hander Vince Ortega (1-2, 2.33) and senior left-hander Rudy Vargas (3-1, 1.55) also have been steady. Ortega, a reliever, has appeared in nine of 14 league games, recording two saves. In 93 innings of league play, San Fernando has an ERA of 2.10.

Records: Agoura shortstop Mike Maggiora finished the regular season with a .470 batting average (39 of 83) to set an “unofficial” school record: unofficial because no one at the school has bothered to keep records, according to Coach John Crow. Athletic Director Fred Williams, the only other coach in school history, said no player has batted better than .410.

Newbury Park senior Don Smith tied a 20-year-old school mark with six home runs. Dave Abdalla hit six in 1968. Dan Smith, Don’s twin, has 10 doubles, equaling Lloyd Wood’s 1984 record. Dan also has 40 hits, four more than Jerry Torgerson had in 1972. Junior Wayne Cook has scored 28 runs, which ties Wayne Reed’s output in 1970. . . . Simi Valley’s Jeff Sommer, whose six home runs tied Scott Sharts’ sophomore school record, is batting .386 with 21 RBIs.

On target: Cleveland catcher Eric Buss has thrown out a school-record 34 baserunners in 52 attempts.

BASEBALL TOP 10 Selected by sportswriters of The Times

Last Rk Wk Team League Record 1 1 Hart Foothill 25-0 2 2 Chatsworth West Valley 22-1 3 3 Simi Valley Marmonte 21-5 4 4 Poly East Valley 18-3 5 5 Kennedy Mid-Valley 17-9 6 7 Notre Dame Del Rey 17-9 7 8 Rio Mesa Channel 18-6-1 8 NR Crespi Del Rey 16-9 9 9 St. Genevieve Santa Fe 19-2-1 10 6 Thousand Oaks Marmonte 17-7-1

NR--Not ranked.

As of Tuesday.