Saratoga News

Falcons open tourney with two wins

By Dick Sparrer

Spring break gave first-year Saratoga head baseball coach Rich Raich a chance to step back and assess the progress his Falcons have made this season.

And how's it look? Not bad... not bad at all.

The Falcons are holding their own this spring, despite a young roster that includes only a couple of seniors.

"We have a young, talented group learning a new system," said Raich. "We should start slow and improve by the end of the year."

But the young Falcons seem to be progressing ahead of the pace the new coach set for them. They won two games last week to open the Capuchino Mustang Classic, and that pulls them even in 1998 at 8-8.

Junior right hander Mike Drew went the distance to toss a two-hit shutout in a 5-0 win over Jefferson in the second round of the Mustang Classic. Jefferson came into the game with a 7-2 season record.

Drew struck out just one in the win, but he also walked just one.

Senior Troy Cardin doubled to spark a five-hit attack for the Falcons. Saratoga jumped on Jefferson for two runs in the first, then added two insurance runs in the sixth and another run in the seventh.

Doubles by sophomores Derek Cartmell and Erick Raich helped make junior right hander Brett Miller a winner in the tourney opener against Balboa. Miller tossed a two-hitter, striking out five.

Balboa took a 10-1 season mark into the game and took the early lead with two runs in the first and a run in the second. But the Falcons rallied for three in the home half of the second to tie it, then won it with a run in the fourth.

Saratoga entered spring break with a .500 record in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. The Falcons are 4-4 as they return to division play this week against Gunn on April 14, 3:30 p.m., at Saratoga.

Raich figures that Gunn and Monta Vista are the teams to beat in the division, and figures his young Falcons for a third-place finish.

Juniors Ryan Bernard, Brian Cavanaugh, Brady Moran and Nick Blue join Drew and sophomores Raich, Cartmell and Matt Joyce as top players for the Falcons this spring.

Bernard is a junior catcher who returns for his third varsity season at Saratoga. Moran is a powerful designated hitter who also catches and plays first base for the Falcons, and Blue is a hot-hitting middle infielder.

Cavanaugh is a pitcher who was the most valuable player on the frosh-soph team last year, and Drew and Raich are transfers from Los Gatos who have moved right into starting roles for the Falcons.

Cartmell is a sophomore back for his second varsity season at Saratoga, and Joyce is another soph on the varsity squad.

Panthers, Warriors win

In league play last week, Prospect and Westmont each posted victories in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

Ryan Hanson was the winning pitcher and he also singled and doubled to lead the Westmont baseball team to a 4-3 win over Leigh. Hanson pushed his mound record to 4-1 with the win and the Warriors jumped to 7-2 in division play and to 8-3 for the year.

Garrett Langworthy went the distance to toss a three-hit shutout to lead Prospect to a 3-0 win over Piedmont Hills the same day. Langworthy struck out 10 and walked just two as he evened his mound record at 1-1.

Dave Hildreth singled and homered to drive in all three runs for the Panthers in the game. Casey Macartney singled and doubled for Prospect.

The Panthers provided Langworthy with all the support he needed with two runs in the second. They added an insurance run in the fourth.

Prospect improved to 4-7 in the division. The Panthers are 5-10 for the year.

Girls' Softball

Freshman hurler Laura Phillippe picked up a pair of wins and sophomore Veronica Sifuentez drove in four runs in two games in Westmont's back-to-back victories over Leland and Presentation last week.

Phillippe tossed a four-hitter to spark the Warriors to a 4-2 win over the Chargers. Freshman Brittany Hennig belted two hits for the Warriors, and Sifuentez knocked in two runs. Freshman Natalie Phipps ripped a double.

Westmont improved to 14-9 for the year and to 2-2 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League with a tight 9-8 win over Presentation two days later.

Soph Jessica Cobillas singled twice to drive in three runs for the winners, and Sifuentez had two hits to knock in a pair. Phillippe was the winning pitcher.

In other local action, Prospect dropped a tight 5-4 nod to Silver Creek to slip to 1-3 in the West Valley Division of the BVAL.

Boys' Volleyball

The Prospect boys' volleyball team picked up its first win of the season, beating Westmont in five games in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL.

The Panthers turned back the Warriors 15-10, 13-15, 15-10, 4-15, 15-13 to claim their first win of the year.

Prospect slipped to 1-7 in the division and to 1-10 for the year with a 15-12, 15-7, 15-5 loss to Willow Glen later in the week.

Westmont, meanwhile, dropped to 0-8 in the division with a 3-15, 2-15, 15-9, 15-11, 15-9 loss to Piedmont Hills.

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