Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Westmont catcher Sean Anderson appears to put the tag on this Santa Teresa runner, but the umpire
will call him safe. Westmont lost the nonleague game, but won two of three games last week.

Falcons in battle for first

Saratoga wins two to hang on to second

By Dick Sparrer

The Saratoga baseball team couldn't afford to lose... not this week, anyway.

The Falcons were sitting in second place in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, and just on the horizon was a rematch with first-place Homestead.

The Mustangs are unbeaten and on top of the El Camino pack. The Falcons are a game back--their only loss coming at the hands of Homestead.

But Saratoga will get a rematch with the Mustangs on March 26. So the Falcons had to beat Cupertino and Los Altos last week to give themselves a shot at a piece of first place with a victory over Homestead.

And that's just what they did.

Saratoga whipped Cupertino 11-5 and edged Los Altos 4-3 to set up the rematch. The Falcons are 4-1 and second in the division--the Mustangs are 5-0 and in first place. They'll meet Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at Homestead to see if there's any change in the standings.

To get to this point was no easy road for Saratoga. The Falcons had to wrest sole ownership of second place away from Cupertino, then rally for a last-inning win over Los Altos.

The Falcons and Pioneers entered their Tuesday game last week tied for second in the division.

Saratoga jumped out to an early lead with four runs in the first. Cupertino rallied for two in the second, but the Falcons came back with one in the third, then another four in the fifth to start to pull away.

Freshman catcher Ryan Bernard pounded two doubles to drive in three runs and Trent Frisina singled and doubled to knock in four for the Falcons.

David Goni had two hits to plate a pair of runs for the winners. Stephen Oberhauser added two hits and Kota Takamoto doubled in the win.

Sophomore hurler David Schneider picked up the mound win for the Falcons, pushing his record to 2-0 in the young season.

Saratoga got another win on Thursday, but it certainly didn't come easy.

The Eagles scored in the second to go up 1-0, but the Falcons picked up single runs in the second and third to lead 2-1. Los Altos rallied for two in the fourth, though, and took a 3-2 lead into the last of the sixth.

Saratoga scored a run to tie it, then broke the tie with a run in the seventh to pull out the win.

Joel Reikes drove in two runs for the Falcons in the win. Frisina ripped a triple and Bernard doubled. Goni was the winning pitcher, improving his season mark to 2-1.

Saratoga, now 5-2 for the year, will visit Homestead Tuesday before hosting Lynbrook on March 28 at 3:30 p.m.

Warriors split

Westmont could manage just a split in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League last week.

The Warriors dropped a 4-0 nod to Mt. Pleasant to open the week, but they battled back to pound Lincoln 15-6.

Vinny Perez was the beneficiary of the 19-hit attack by the Warriors. The senior hurler went the distance to picked up the win for Westmont, running his record to 4-0. He also helped himself at the plate with a double, triple and two singles.

Andy Brown and Adam Curtis each had two singles and a double for the Warriors. Curtis also drove in two runs. P.J. Doherty and Sean Anderson added three hits apiece. Anderson knocked in four runs for the winners. Scott Smith also drove in three runs.

The Warriors, 2-2 in the division and 5-5 for the year, lost 4-0 to Mt. Pleasant to open the week. Doubles by Perez and Brown keyed the five-hit assault in the loss.

Westmont beat St. Lawrence Academy 8-2 in a nonleague game last week. Mike Howard picked up a pitching win and Andrew Traw tripled.

The Warriors will visit Lick on March 27, 3:30 p.m., for a league game before hosting Willow Glen on March 29, 3:30 p.m., in nonleague action.

Panthers win two

Prospect knocked off San Jose 8-5 and beat Hill 3-1 last week to jump to 3-2 in the West Valley Division of the BVAL.

Brandon Morgan singled and tripled to lead the Panthers to the win over the Falcons. Jeremy Solis went the distance for the win, striking out seven and allowing just five hits. Solis is now 1-1.

Earlier in the week, Bruce Morrow tossed a complete game and Jamin Claus tripled and homered to drive in two runs to lead the Panthers to the 8-5 win over San Jose.

Brian Kato ripped three hits and Matt Medlin singled and doubled in the win. Morgan ripped a triple.

Falcons ace Cats

Freshman Scott Swanberg nailed a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles and freshman Elong Chiu won 6-4, 6-0 at No. 3 to start the Saratoga boys' tennis team on the road to a 6-1 win over Los Gatos in De Anza Division play last week.

Neil Godbole and Brian Doore were other singles winners for the Falcons and the Paul Chen-Danny Myers and Charles Chang-Michael Goss doubles teams were also winners.

The Falcons, 1-2 in the division and 2-2 for the year, had lost 7-0 to Homestead earlier in the week.