By Dick Sparrer
Coaches will tell their teams--"never get too 'up' when you win, never get too 'down' when you lose."
And never was that coach's philosphy more true than last Saturday, when Monta Vista beat rival Lynbrook 2-1 in the first round of the Cupertino Lion's Tournament.
David Vieira had to be happy that his Matadors came through with the tight win, and Brian Stuckey had to be a little disappointed that his Vikings suffered the loss.
But Stuckey and his Vikes couldn't get too "down." After all, they were coming off of two wins in league play during the week.
And Vieira and his Mats couldn't get too "up"--they had just lost twice in league play.
Monta Vista dropped a 5-2 decision to unbeaten Wilcox, then lost a 6-5 heartbreaker to Milpitas in 10 innings to slip to 1-5 in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Lynbrook, meanwhile, had beaten Los Altos 9-2 and handled Santa Clara 7-0 to remain alone in first place in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL with a 5-1 record.
Lynbrook dropped to 6-3 overall after the loss to Monta Vista in the tournament opener on Saturday.
Senior southpaw Adam Peters picked up the mound win for the Matadors, and Chad Purcell came on to get the save.
Junior Nick Kouvaris was stuck with the tough loss, and David Peng ripped a pair of hits for the Vikings.
Lynbrook was coming off of an impressive 7-0 win over Santa Clara. Fred Ramirez went the distance to flip a one-hit shutout, striking out six, to run his mound record to 2-0 in league.
Brian Avants led a 15-hit assault for Lynbrook with three hits. Stace Russo singled and tripled to drive in a pair of runs, and Ramirez had two hits to drive in two.
Dan Hoss and Matt Rhoads ripped two hits apiece for the Vikes. David Peng cracked a triple, and Jason Hsiao doubled.
Lynbrook took a 1-0 lead into the sixth before breaking the game open with a 6-run rally.
Jered Schoettmer opened the week by going the distance to toss Lynbrook to the 9-2 win over Los Altos. Schoettmer scattered seven hits in the game.
Lynbrook also had seven hits but made them stand up for nine runs. Hoss had two hits to drive in two runs, and Avants knocked home a pair.
Falcons split
Saratoga split a pair of games in El Camino play last week. The Falcons lost a tough 7-6 nod to Gunn but came back to whip Cupertino 10-3.
Dave Schneider was the winning pitcher, and the Cardin brothers led a 12-hit offensive attack in Saratoga's win over the Pioneers.
Schneider evened his mound record at 1-1 with the win as the Falcons held the Pioneers to just five hits.
Kyle Cardin doubled and singled twice, and Troy Cardin singled and doubled to knock in two runs to lead the Falcons to the win.
Trent Frisina singled and tripled to plate three runs, David Goni had two hits and Josh Vrostos drove in a pair of runs for Saratoga.
The Falcons jumped on Cupertino for four runs in the first, but the Pioneers answered back with two in the home half of the frame. That's how it remained until the Falcons scored one in the fifth and four more in the sixth to break the game open.
Saratoga lost a 7-6 heartbreaker to Gunn to open the week.
T. Cardin ripped a solo homer for the Falcons, and Goni singled twice to drive in two runs. K. Cardin had two hits, and Ryan Bernard and Andre Sorba each doubled.
Saratoga led 6-2 after four innings, but the Titans picked up three runs in the fifth, scored the tying run in the sixth and scored the game-winner in the seventh.
Panthers win
Over in the Blossom Valley Athletic League, Prospect pounded Gunderson 12-2 to improve to 2-1 in the Santa Teresa Division.
Junior Dan Baucus tossed the Panthers to the win, pushing his mound record to 2-0. He also helped Prospect at the plate with a single and a double.
Steve Bond led the 12-hit attack for the Panthers with four hits, including a pair of doubles. Mark Johnston added a pair of hits, Dave Hildreth doubled and Brandon Morgan drove in two runs.
Prospect took a 1-0 lead with a run in the second then added two more in the third to lead 3-0. The Panthers picked up three more in the fourth, then broke the game wide open with six in the seventh.
The Panthers will try to maintain their winning ways this week when they visit Overfelt on March 25 and host Silver Creek on March 27 in a couple of 3:30 p.m. games.
Warriors win, lose
Scott Smith belted a home run, and Scott Hanson went the distance to toss a seven-hitter in Westmont's
7-2 win over Andrew Hill last week.
Smith knocked in three runs for the Warriors, and Hanson walked just one and struck out seven in nailing down the mound win.
Nick North had three hits for the Warriors, and P.J. Doherty ripped a pair. Adam Curtis belted a triple.
The Warriors led 2-0 after two innings and held that lead until the sixth, when they unloaded for four more to take control of the game.
Westmont suffered its first league loss later in the week, though, when the Warriors dropped a tight 3-2 decision to San Jose Academy. Doherty homered and doubled for the Warriors.
San Jose scored a run in the first, but Westmont matched it in the second. It remained 1-1 until San Jose added single runs in the fourth and sixth. Westmont could get just one back in the seventh.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, March 26, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.