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Los Gatos freshman William McAlister and his dog, Kazam, are ready to compete in the CCS tournament.
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Chase, Swanson toss Cats to win
But the Wildcats fall in second round at CCS
By Dick Sparrer
A postseason that started so promisingly ended very abruptly for the Los Gatos baseball team last week.
The Wildcats opened the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs with an impressive 4-2 win over North Monterey County in nine innings, but they lost a tough 8-6 decision to Sacred Heart on Saturday to fall out of the competition.
Still, it was quite a year for the Wildcats.
Playing for a brand new coach for the first time in nearly four decades, Los Gatos got off to a slow start in the 2000 season but battled back to play better than .500 baseball down the final stretch to earn a place in the CCS tournament.
Once there, the Cats made the most of their opportunity. They pulled out a nine-inning win over North Monterey County to advance to the second round of the tourney.
Senior left hander Steve Chase tossed a gem for the win against NMC. The 6-foot-2 hurler struck out 11 in eight and a third innings to get the win. He walked none and ended up combining with big 6-foot-6 reliever Matt Swanson for a six-hitter.
Chase ran his mound record to 7-3 with the win. Swanson, a junior right-hander, came on to pick up the save.
Chase took the mound in the bottom of the ninth with a 4-2 lead thanks to a clutch single by sophomore Travis Howell.
Chase and sophomore Steve Sweeney belted singles to open the ninth, and both raced home on a two-run single by Howell that snapped a 2-2 tie.
NMC had jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a run in the first, and that's how it remained until the sixth when the Wildcats grabbed with the lead with a couple of runs.
The Condors tied it with a run in the home half of the sixth, and after a scoreless seventh the clubs were headed to extra innings.
Howell virtually ended it with his single in the ninth, but Chase and Swanson still had to get the side out in the bottom of the frame. They did, and the Wildcats had their 13th win of the year.
Sweeney finished the day with a couple of hits, and Ben Shanker singled and doubled. Markus Willard also ripped a double in the win.
But the season came to an end on Saturday when the Cats lost 8-6 to Sacred Heart.
Joey Warren singled and doubled to knock in a couple of runs for Los Gatos and Chase drove home two runs. Shanker had three hits for the Cats.
Gatos opened up a 4-0 lead with four runs in the second, but Sacred Heart chipped away with runs in the second and third and two in the fourth to tie it. SH scored in the fifth to lead 5-4, but the Cats answered with two in the top of the sixth to jump back in front 6-5.
Sacred Heart rallied once more, though, scoring three in the bottom of the sixth, to clinch the victory.
Los Gatos finished the season with a 13-18 overall record.
Frosh-Soph Champs
The Los Gatos frosh-soph baseball team wrapped up the league season with a 9-3 win over Cupertino to clinch first place in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. The young Cats finished the year 14-4 overall.
Adam Nelson homered, tripled and singled to lead the Wildcats to the win over the Pioneers. Tyler Wilson singled and doubled for the Cats and Chris Willard, James Gentry and Dan Holtzman had two hits apiece. Jayson Furia ripped a double.
Other members of the championship team, coached by former Wildcats Brian Chiala and Derek Reichstein, are Dave Fencl, Nick Scolari, Adam Crane, Alex Anderson, Jeff Oleson, Ryan Daily, Matt Cooke, Kyle Schafer and Brian Miguel.
McAlister at CCS
Freshman William McAlister will represent Los Gatos and the SCVAL's El Camino Division at the CCS individual championships this week in Aptos.
McAlister was undefeated in the El Camino Division regular season as the Wildcats ran up a 12-2 record. He went on to finish first in a CCS qualifying tournament, beating a Milpitas player 6-0, 6-0 in the first round, a Mountain View netter 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals and another Milpitas foe 6-0, 4-6, 6-0 in the finals.
CCS Track Finals
Los Gatos will be well represented when the CCS track and field finals get under way on May 26 at San Jose City College.
The Wildcats had come through with an outstanding showing at the CCS Sub-Section meet back on May 13 on the Los Gatos track.
Juniors Heather Hennessy and Matt Bates starred in the meet for the Wildcats. Hennessy was a triple winner in the 1,600, 800 and 4x400 relay, and Bates almost matched that effort with wins in the 1,600 and 4x400 relay and a second in the 800.
Hennessy breezed to a win in the 1,600 in 5:11.76 and she was first in the 800 in 2:15.90. She teamed with freshman Carolyn Penner, sophomore Racine Lewin and junior Simone Drucker for a win in the 4x400 relay in 57.9.
Kim Christiansen soared to a win in the triple jump at 35-5 and Emily King flew to a first in the long jump at 17-6. Christiansen added a fourth in the long jump at 17-0.
Annie Farnady joined the list of Gatos winners in the girls competition with a first in the discus. The talented senior whirled the platter 133-5 for a first-place finish.
Penner ended up second in the 400 in 58.83 and joined with Kristen Fumia, Meghan Kirby-McFarland and Drucker for a second in the 4x100 relay in 49.03.
Michelle Beritzhoff was third in the 1,600 in 5:13.36 and fifth in the 800 in 2:23.44; Lewin was fourth in the 100 hurdles in 15.56 and seventh in the 300 hurdles in 49.13; Drucker was fourth in the 200 in 26.62; Fumia was fifth in both the 100 in 12.62 and the 200 in 26.80; Kirby-McFarland and Aly Chavez tied for sixth in the 100 in 12.64; and Mallory Thornton was fifth in the 3,200 in 11:44.
Bates starred for the Gatos boys. The junior was first in the 1,600 in 4:20.4 and second in the 800 in 1:59.3. He joined forces with Brian Edwards, Jeff Hoeft and Matt Hintz for a win in the 4x400 relay in 3:24.9.
Edwards was third in both the 400 in 50.05 and the 200 in 23.33, and Hoeft was fourth in the 800 in 2:00.14.
Russ Martin was fourth in the 3,200 in 9:42.0 with Tomas Viramontes ninth in 9:55.0. Viramontes was also ninth in the 1,600 in 4:25.4.
Seung Lee was eighth in the 100 in 11.22 and eighth in the 110 high hurdles in 15:64, and Nick Skrabe was ninth in the shot put at 47-5 3/4.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
