Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Los Gatos hurler Mike Cook and the Wildcats lost a 12-2 decision to Homestead last week. Cook had two hits a couple of days later, but the Cats lost again to Wilcox, 8-3.

Los Gatos girls upset Lancers

By Dick Sparrer

St. Francis may be the No. 2 seed in the Central Coast Section Division II girls softball playoffs, but last week the Lancers finished No. 2... to Los Gatos.

The Wildcats pulled off an upset of major proportions when they stuck the Lancers with their first and only loss of the season in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

It was one of two wins for Los Gatos on the week, and the two victories helped the Wildcats to a .500 finish in the division. The Cats ended up 6-6 in De Anza play and 8-15 for the year.

Nancy Mills starred for the Wildcats in the final week of the regular season, recording a pair of pitching victories and notching two multiple-hit games.

Gatos opened the week with a 5-3 win over Los Altos before upsetting St. Francis 2-1. The week, and the season, ended on a disappointing note when the Cats lost a 2-1, eight-inning heartbreaker to Wilcox.

But the Wildcats will have the pleasant memory of the upset win over the Lancers to enjoy through the off-season.

Mills fired a four-hitter, striking out eight along the way, but it appeared that wouldn't be enough. St. Francis broke up the scoreless game by scoring a single run in the fifth inning, and the Lancers took that 1-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh.

But the Cats tied it, then Gillian Wadas knocked in the game-winning run to give Los Gatos a thrilling 2-1 victory.

Mills had tossed a four-hitter, fanning seven, to spark the Wildcats to a 5-3 win over Los Altos to open the week. She also led the offensive attack with a pair of singles to knock in two runs.

The clubs each scored two runs in the first, and Gatos scored again in the second to take a 3-2 lead. Los Altos tied it with a run in the third, but the Cats broke the tie with a run in the sixth, then added an insurance run in the seventh.

Mills ripped two more hits, but the Wildcats lost 2-1 to Wilcox in the final game of the season.

The clubs battled to a scoreless tie through seven innings before Los Gatos scored in the top of the eighth. But the Chargers scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to pull out the victory.

Mills was tagged with the loss, despite tossing a six-hitter. She finished league play with a 6-6 pitching record.

Cats lose two

The Los Gatos baseball team, meanwhile, ended up just a game out of the cellar in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL.

The Wildcats had improved to 6-10 with an 11-2 win over Fremont the week before, but lost twice last week to finish the year 6-12 in the division and 9-15 for the year.

The Cats lost 12-2 to last-place Homestead and 8-3 to first-place Wilcox in the final week of the regular season.

Junior Mike Cook singled and doubled, and senior Andy Housley had two hits, but the Wildcats lost to the Chargers 8-3 in the season finale.

Gatos actually led 3-2 heading into the bottom of the third, but the Chargers rallied for two in the third in the take the lead, then scored one in the fourth and three more in the fifth to win it.

Only a 5-3 win by Milpitas over Homestead the same day kept the Cats from finishing in a three-way tie for last place in the division. The Trojans broke a 3-3 tie with two in the seventh to pull out the win over the Mustangs that pushed Homestead alone into the De Anza cellar.

Wilcox finished league play 15-3 and alone in first place with the win over Los Gatos. Monta Vista (12-6) ended up second, with Cupertino (10-8) third, Fremont (8-10) fourth, Milpitas (7-11) fifth, Los Gatos (6-12) sixth and Homestead (5-13) seventh.

The Cats had lost a 12-2 decision to Homestead to open play last week. The Wildcats could manage just two hits against the Mustangs, who pounded out 15 hits against Gatos pitching.

As it turns out, an 11-2 win over Fremont the week before kept the Wildcats out of the cellar in the De Anza Division.

Cook drove in a couple of runs with three hits, and sophomore Ben Shanker had three hits for the Wildcats. Mike Geddie knocked in three runs with a pair of singles, and Jeff Ouellet and Brandon Fennema each singled and doubled.

Housley and David Pearl added two hits apiece in the win, and junior Steve Chase was the winning pitcher.

The clubs were locked in a scoreless tie for three innings before the Cats scored a single run in the fourth. Gatos then broke the game open with a six-run rally in the fifth.

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