It must have been enough to make the Wildcats angry.

Gatos answered right back with three in the home half of the third, then scored three runs in the fourth and another one in the fifth on the road to a convincing 7-1 victory over the Pioneers.

The win helped the Wildcats improve to 7-1 in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. But more importantly to head coach Brad Sanfilippo, it proved to him that his Cats are capable of battling back from adversity--namely, a 5-3 loss to Wilcox earlier in the week.

"Today was great," said Sanfilippo after the win. "It shows a lot about our character to come back from the loss like we did. I'm real happy with the way we responded."

The three runs in the third were really all sophomore right hander Kyle Blair needed. He went the distance to toss a 5-hitter, striking out six and walking just one. He also hit two batters.

"This kid is just a sophomore," said Cupertino coach David Kawamoto of Blair. "He's a big kid with good velocity and a good slider."

"Los Gatos is a good team, and they have a fine program," he added. "Today we came up on the short end. This is a very competitive league."

Cupertino actually drew first blood in the Friday game when junior designated hitter Matt McCormick doubled down the left field line. Blair got the next two hitters on pop flies, but Ryan Blake came through with a line drive single to left to knock in McCormick with the game's first run.

But that run seemed to wake up the Wildcats.

Senior Mark Johnson opened the home half of the third with a single up the middle and stole second. Cupertino starter Mike Fallert got the next two hitters on fly balls, but then Blair helped his own cause with a line single to right to knock in Johnson with the tying run.

But the Wildcats weren't finished yet. After Blair swiped second, Derek Thomas rolled a single up the middle to drive in a run, and he took second on the throw to the plate. Thomas moved to third on a wild pitch before Jeremy Bays walked to put runners at the corners. Michael Gault then dropped a perfect two-out bunt that he beat out for a single, driving in Thomas with the third run of the inning.

Cupertino looked like it would bounce right back when Todd Fitzgerald opened the fourth with a single to right. But Blair struck out the next hitter, then got Ali Hussain to bounce into a 5-4-3 double play.

Los Gatos put the game away with three more runs in the bottom of the fourth, then added one more in the fifth.

Blair needed just 90 pitches to take care of the Pioneers. He threw 54 for strikes, including 15 in the seventh inning when he struck out the side--but not before Cupertino loaded the bases.

Fitzgerald doubled to left, Aaron Headrick was hit by a pitch and Hussain reached on a fielder's choice to pack the bags. But Blair struck out the next three hitters to nail down the win.

Fitzgerald doubled and singled for the Pioneers and Blake had two hits. McCormick had the double to round out the five-hit attack.

"Our pitching wasn't as sharp today as it has been, and we got behind a little bit early," said Kawamoto. "But we'll be back."

The Pioneers, 2-4-1 in the division and 3-6-1 for the year, had opened the week with a 7-1 win of their own against Mountain View.

Headrick and Fitzgerald combined to toss a 4-hitter for the Pioneers. Headrick picked up the mound win, his first decision of the year, and Fitzgerald claimed his second save.

Tai Mitchell had two hits for the Pioneers and Leo Haley doubled home a couple of runs.

Cupertino jumped right on the Spartans for two runs in the bottom of the first, then made it 6-0 with a big four-run rally in the third. The Spartans got one back in the fourth, but the Pioneers answered with a run in the sixth to clinch the 7-1 win.

The solid pitching performance came as no surprise to Kawamoto, who figured his club would be strong on the hill this spring.

"The strength of the team is pitching," he said prior to the start of the season. "We should compete at the top of our league this year."

Unfortunately, after a rocky first round, that pre-season prediction is not coming true. But the Pioneers have hopes of turning that around with nearly two rounds left in the league season.

Cupertino was to face Palo Alto on Monday, weather permitting, and will host Wilcox on April 6, 3:30 p.m.

In other local action, Homestead will try to get back on the winning track in the El Camino Division after a tough loss to Saratoga last week.

The Mustangs are 4-2 in the division and face a tough test this week when they host Fremont on April 7, 3:30 p.m. The Firebirds are riding a five-game winning streak.

The Mustangs, the last team to beat the Firebirds, 8-3 back in mid-March, are coming off a tough week. They lost a tough 2-1 contest to Saratoga on March 31, then dropped a 7-2 non-league decision to The King's Academy.

Junior Kyle Dukes scattered just six hits against Saratoga, but Homestead managed just two against Falcon ace Scott Newberry.

Homestead's hitters did not fare much better the next day against Jason Linn and Tim Biederman of TKA. Senior shortstop Craig Moberg ripped a double and triple for Homestead, but the Mustangs totaled just four as Linn was dealing for the Knights.