Baseball: The invisible ball

You won't get me criticizing one of the best, most respected coaches in the City Section in Manny Alvarado, who has guided Granada Hills Kennedy to five City Section championships.

But I have to say it was pretty stunning watching the Golden Cougars take infield practice for their City quarterfinal playoff game Thursday without using a ball.

They went through all their drills as if there was a real ball. Whether the absence of a ball during pregame practice played a role in Kennedy making four errors in a 5-3 loss to San Fernando will be left for speculation.

Alvarado said he wanted his players to have fun and feel loose. And they were smiling after the phantom infield and outfield practice. Here's some video of what the Golden Cougars were doing.

-- Eric Sondheimer