Matadors chasing CCS tennis title
Mustangs battling for baseball berth
By Dick Sparrer
Every spring the Monta Vista boys tennis team seems to be in the thick of the fight for the Central Coast Section (CCS) championship.
And it's no different this spring.
The Matadors blanked Aragon 7-0 last week to advance to the CCS Division I semifinals against Leland. Monta Vista was to battle the Chargers on Tuesday, with the winner to face the Los Gatos-Bellarmine winner for the section championship on May 9, 2 p.m., at Courtside.
Monta Vista, 17-2 for the year, drew a first-round bye while Aragon was shutting out Wilcox 7-0. Then the Mats gave the Dons a dose of their own medicine.
Monta Vista, champs of the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL), won all seven matches in straight sets to cruise to the easy win over Aragon.
Promod Dabir posted a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles to start the Mats on their way. Michael Kao supported with a 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 2, Bastian Bartels won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 and Robert Yee won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 as Monta Vista swept through singles play.
Ryan Chan and Eric Lee teamed for a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 1 to start the Matadors on the road to a sweep of the doubles competition.
A week earlier, Bartels and Yee had combined forces to win the league doubles title at the De Anza Division tournament.
The Monta Vista pair drew a first-round bye, then outlasted a Palo Alto twosome 6-4, 4-2, 6-2 and knocked off a Los Altos duo 6-4, 6-2 to get to the finals.
Bartels and Lee defeated Will McAlister and Brian Brogan of Los Gatos 7-6 (12), 7-6 (4) in a barnburner in the championship match.
In singles action, Kao made it to the finals before losing 6-3, 6-2 to A.J. Kerin of Saratoga.
Kao beat opponents from Palo Alto (6-0, 6-2) and Saratoga (6-2, 6-0) to get the semifinals, then beat teammate Lee 6-1, 6-2 to get to the finals.
He lost his last match to Kerin to wind up second overall. Lee finished fourth in singles play, losing to a Los Altos foe in the third-place match.
Mustangs lose two
There was a win for the Homestead baseball team in the El Camino Division last week.
But it was two losses that might end up proving very costly for the Mustangs in their bid to get a spot in the upcoming CCS playoffs.
Homestead beat Lynbrook 8-1, but losses to Palo Alto and Santa Clara left the Mustangs 10-6 in the division, with just two games to play.
Paly has all but locked up the division championship with a 13-2 record, and the Bruins sit in second at 11-4. The Mustangs are third, but need to climb into the top two to secure an automatic CCS berth.
The McGee brothers combined for six hits to lead Homestead to the win over Lynbrook last week. Brian McGee homered and singled twice and Brad McGee doubled and singled twice to lead the Mustangs to the victory.
Brian McGee tossed a three-hitter for the win, running his mound record to 6-0.
Homestead, 16-9 for the year, lost 7-1 to Palo Alto earlier in the week and dropped a 4-2 nod to Santa Clara despite getting a home run from Bryan Beres.
Lynbrook pushed its league record to 4-12 with a 3-2 win over Santa Clara last week. James White tossed a two-hitter for the win, and Scott Roberts knocked in both runs for the Vikings.
Lynbrook lost 13-7 to Mountain View and beat Los Altos 4-3 in other action last week.
Monta Vista lost a couple of games last week, falling 4-1 to Santa Clara and 11-2 to Los Altos. Ryan Katz tripled in the loss to the Eagles.
Cupertino, meanwhile, slipped to 6-9 in the De Anza Division with a couple of tough losses last week.
The Pioneers lost 6-3 to Fremont to open the week, then dropped a tight 8-7 nod to Los Gatos.
Andrew Ravadge doubled and singled twice to lead a seven-hit attack for Cupertino, but the Pioneers lost 6-3 to the Firebirds. Cupertino outhit Fremont 7-5 in the loss.
Golfers go to CCS
Monta Vista, Lynbrook and Fremont will all send golfers to the CCS tournament set for May 7 at the Rancho Cañada Golf Course.
Andy Cochrane and Tyler Kitano of Monta Vista, Andy Anido and Andrew Chow of Lynbrook and Jason Simon of Fremont each placed high enough at the SCVAL championships at the Ridgemont Golf Course last week to qualify for CCS.
Anido finished with a four-over par 76 to finish all alone in seventh place at the league tourney. Teammate Chow shot a 78 to tie for 11th.
Cochrane fired a solid 77 to tied for eighth place in the tourney, and Monta Vista's Kitano and Fremont's Simon were each two strokes back at 79, tied for 14th. The top 15 finishers advance to CCS.
Cupertino, California Since 1947
