Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Sliding home safely with a run is Matt Torres of the Los Gatos baseball team in last week's 7-6 win over Saratoga. The Wildcats beat the Falcons twice in league play, then won a nonleague decision over Del Mar.

Good week for Cats, Shanker

Los Gatos beats Saratoga twice

By Dick Sparrer

The week got off to a pretty good start for Ben Shanker and Los Gatos baseball last Monday.

And it just kept getting better and better.

Shanker and the Wildcats opened the week with an impressive victory over rival Saratoga. And before it was over, Gatos had three wins and Shanker had seven hits, four runs-batted-in and his first save of the season.

The Cats two-timed Saratoga 17-15 and 7-6 on Monday and Wednesday in a couple of games in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, and they capped the week with a solid 6-2 nonleague win over Del Mar.

The Wildcats improved their record to 6-6 in the division and pushed their overall mark to 8-11.

"Things are coming together a little bit," said Gatos head coach Don Ardissone after the three wins. "The kids did a great job."

Especially Shanker. The junior slugger was seven for 10 with a double and homer, and he drove in four runs--including the two in the bottom of the seventh that lifted the Cats to the important 7-6 win over the Falcons on Wednesday.

Gatos went into the home half of the seventh trailing Saratoga 6-5, and the Falcons got a quick out. Alex Burda kept the Cats' hopes flickering, though, when he was hit with a pitch on an 0-2 pitch.

Chris Denevi followed with a clutch single to right to put runners on first and second. It was Denevi's second hit of the day.

An out later, the Cats were down to their final strike with Joey Warren at the plate facing a full count. But he fouled off a few pitches before drawing a walk to load the bases.

"That was a great at-bat [for Warren]," said Ardissone.

That brought Shanker to the plate. He fell behind two strikes before a third pitch sailed high. Then Shanker drilled the 1-2 pitch on a line into right field. Burda came home to tie the game, and Denevi raced to the plate with the game-winner.

Denevi singled and doubled in the win, and Shanker had two hits. Steve Chase knocked in a couple of runs and was also the winning pitcher. Chase went the distance for the win, evening his record at 3-3.

Earlier in the week, Los Gatos had unloaded for 18 hits in a 17-15 win over the Falcons.

Sophomore Steve Sweeney homered and singled twice to drive in four runs in the win. Shanker also had three hits for the Cats.

Willard singled and doubled to drive in four runs for Los Gatos, and Denevi singled and doubled to knock in three. Chase ripped a pair of doubles and Burda and Warren each singled and doubled.

Matt Swanson hung on to pick up the mound win, pushing his record to 4-2. Shanker came on to claim the save. The right hander struck out the final two Saratoga hitters to nail down the win.

Shanker continued to swing a hot bat in the nonleague game against Del Mar on Friday. He opened the game with a solo homer, and finished the day with two hits to knock in two runs.

Markus Willard doubled in the Los Gatos win, and Burke was the winning pitcher, evening his record at 3-3.

Division Race

Los Gatos will take a break from league play this week to take part in the Seaside Tournament. The Cats were to visit Monte Vista Christian on Monday and will host Alisal on April 19, 3:30 p.m. Depending upon the results of the two games, the Cats could head to Seaside for championship round play on Friday and Saturday.

The Cats are in third place in the division, a half game behind second-place Saratoga.

Wilcox has all but wrapped up the division title, thanks in no small part to the Cats. The Chargers are 11-1 and hold a four and a half game lead over the Falcons, 6-5-1. Los Gatos is third at 6-6 with Monta Vista and Cupertino sharing fourth with matching 5-6-1 records. Milpitas is next in line at 4-8, with Fremont in the cellar at 3-8-1.

Frosh-soph split

The Los Gatos frosh-soph baseball lost 12-1 to Saratoga in five innings on Monday, but came back to beat the Falcons 14-3 in five innings two days later.

Alex Rollin doubled twice and singled twice to drive in five runs, and Dan Holtzman doubled and singled twice to knock in three to lead the young Cats to the 14-3 win.

Travis Howell belted two run-scoring doubles, and Jayson Furia ripped two run-scoring singles. Chris Willard also singled home a run, and Adam Crane and James Gentry added hits.

Rollin tossed all five innings for the Cats, giving up just three runs on six hits.

The Wildcats, 11-1 in the division, had edged Wilcox 7-6 a few days earlier.

Holtzman, Willard and Tyler Wilson each had three hits, and Rollin singled and doubled to lead the Cats past the Chargers.

Matt Cooke singled home two runs in the win, and Alex Anderson had a run-scoring single.

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