Ben Maples pitched a four-hitter and Jason Dias provided offensive punch in the Matadors' most recent victory, a 7-2 decision at Saratoga on May 1.

The win improved Monta Vista's Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division record to 10-5 and put it a step ahead of Saratoga in the battle for second place and the division's second automatic entry into the CCS playoffs. Teams from as many as 40 schools will compete in three division tournaments beginning May 19.

The Matadors, coached by Jeff Trevarthen and Jake Fossen, took an overall record of 12-8-1 into a May 4 game against Lynbrook. They close out the regular season at Mountain View on May 6 and at home against visiting Homestead on May 11.

If the Mats can win two of their last three games, they will lock up second place. Mountain View, 10-2 with three games to play, has clinched the division championship. Saratoga, which lost two of three games to the Matadors this season, had a 7-6 record with five games to play.

Maples had a shutout for six innings against Saratoga, before the Falcons rallied for their two runs in the seventh. Dias belted a home run and singled twice for Monta Vista. He drove in three runs and scored two others.

The win at Saratoga followed home triumphs over previously unbeaten Mountain View, 6-4, and last-place Gunn, 11-10, and a road victory over Santa Clara.

Nick Bertolucci led a 15-hit parade against Gunn, going 4 for 5 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Gavin Zack was the winning pitcher.

Lynbrook continued its league success over Homestead this season, using a four-run sixth inning to pull out a 6-4 win on April 29. David Byers drove in three runs and John Huizar smacked a triple, supporting winning pitcher Mike Thurman. The Vikings won all three of its league meetings with Homestead.

Track teams get set

The qualifying journey to the CCS track and field championship meet begins for SCVAL boys and girls at two venues this week, after local schools closed out the dual meet season in a flourish.

Lynbrook, which finished the De Anza dual meet season with a perfect 6-0 record in three divisions, varsity and frosh-soph boys and JV girls, will be at Los Altos High on May 6 for the De Anza Division finals.

Meanwhile, athletes from Cupertino, Monta Vista and Homestead will compete in the El Camino Division finals on May 5 at Santa Clara High. Both of Monta Vista's varsity teams finished with 5-1 records and second place in the El Camino standings.

Individual competitions will be held in four categories, varsity and frosh-soph for boys and varsity and junior varsity for girls. The best 16 marks in each event from the two meets will advance to the SCVAL qualifier at Los Gatos High on May 15.

From the qualifying meet, the top six from each boys event and the best five from each girls event will move on to the CCS semifinals on May 22 at San Jose City College. The CCS finals also will be at San Jose City on May 28.

Lynbrook's varsity boys topped Milpitas 76-51 in the final dual meet of the season on April 29. Taimur Khan, Durrell Roberts, Justin Teng and Chris Deal all were multiple event winners for the Vikings.

Khan finished first in the 100 meters (11.23 seconds) and 300 hurdles (39.8), while Roberts took two sprints and Deal captured two jumping contests. Roberts ran 22.59 in the 200 and 51.9 in the 400, while Deal bounded 43-6 in the triple jump and 21-4 in the long jump. Teng ran legs on both winning relay teams.

Yvon Pham also was a winner for the Vikings, capturing the 110 high hurdles in 17.0.

Julie Chen and Rachel Doughty were the only Lynbrook girls to win events against Milpitas. Chen won both hurdles races and Doughty jumped claimed the high jump.

In Monta Vista's final dual, the boys beat Homestead 77-47 and the girls won 82-45.

Bobby Kritzer won all three jumps for the Matador boys, including 6-2 in the high jump, and teammate Nick Bedell won both hurdles races. Other Monta Vista winners were Ian Thayer (200), Ian Laform (800) and Jason Yow (1,600).

Homestead's Alton Sumpter ran a blazing 10.9 in the 100. Teammate William Tsai won the weight events, including a 146-2 effort in the discus.

Sumpter teamed with Robert Scott, Kuang Pham and Domingo Emiano to win the 400 relay in 43.9. Jason Anthony, who sprinted 53.33 to win the 400 for Homestead, ran the anchor leg for the victorious 1,600 relay unit. Scott, Sumpter and Derek Okamura ran the first three legs.

On the girls side, Monta Vista hurdler Kylie Ratkovich, Homestead thrower Sandra Kiel and Homestead jumper Christina Fukumoto all were double winners.

Angela Hsu (1,600), Lisa Worsham (3,200), Dana Underwood (800) and Megan O'Rourke (200) all were event winners for Monta Vista. Homestead winners were Dieadra Pettigrew, who won the 100 in a league-best time of 12.66, and Nina Siddiqui (400). The Mustangs' 400 relay team of Osia Bose, Allie Garnett, Siddiqui and Pettigrew combined to win in 52.05, the unit's best mark thus far.

Swimmers dive in

Some of the best high school swimmers in the CCS do battle weekly in the SCVAL. So when the SCVAL's two divisions conduct their league finals this week, it will be a preview of some of the match-ups that may occur at the CCS swimming championships on May 14­15.

Homestead and Monta Vista swimmers will be competing in the De Anza Division finals on Friday, May 7, at Los Altos. Meanwhile, Cupertino, Lynbrook and Fremont swimmers will be at Fremont for the El Camino finals. For each division, girls trials are on May 5 and boys trials are the next day.

Many swimmers have already recorded CCS-qualifying times, but the SCVAL trials and finals provide athletes with two more chances to qualify or improve their CCS ranking.

Homestead junior Amber Hovey (56.06) has the fastest girls 100-meter butterfly time in the section, as well as the sixth-fastest mark in the 100 backstroke. Two Homestead boys, junior Karta Khalsa and senior Mat Schmidt, both rank second in an event. Khalsa has turned the 100 fly in 53.42 and Schmidt has gone 1:01.21 in the 100 breaststroke.

Schmidt, Fremont freshman Larry Wen, and junior Kevin Luu of Monta Vista have posted some of the best times in the 200 individual medley.

Cupertino senior Michael Jarvis ranks among the best 50 free sprinters while his teammate, sophomore Josh Overby, is one of the better distance swimmers. Lynbrook junior Michael Wang owns the sixth-best 100 free time.

Lynbrook sophomore Nilasha Ghosh may be the best all-around female swimmer, as she ranks third in 200 IM, 100 fly and 50 free, fourth in the 100 backstroke and 10th in the 500 free. Monta Vista's Dominique Lazarovici rates fifth in the 100 back and ninth in the 500 free.

Boys medley and 400 free relay teams from Monta Vista and Homestead rank among the section's top 10. Those schools also have highly regarded girls relay teams, as does Lynbrook.