Photograph by George Sakkestad
Westmont's Brandon Simon takes a big cut in last week's win over Willow Glen. The Warriors beat the Rams 6-5, but lost 5-0 to Leigh.
Falcons lose by a run to Wildcats
Oliver homers, but Falcons fall short
By Dick Sparrer
When Trevor Wilson sliced a two-run single into right field in the bottom of the sixth last Saturday afternoon, it appeared to be just a little insurance for Los Gatos on its way to a baseball win over Saratoga.
Saratoga, it seems, had other ideas.
The Falcons made the Wildcats cash in that insurance policy right away when they rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh to throw a real scare into the Cats before dropping a tough 9-8 decision.
The loss left Saratoga 3-6 in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, and three games back in the wild race for second place in the division.
Wilcox appears to be running away from the pack with a 10-0 league record, so the race is on for second. Gunn currently holds the No. 2 spot with a 7-4 league record with Gatos just a half game back at 6-4. Cupertino (5-5), Fremont (4-7), Saratoga (3-6) and Milpitas (0-10) round out the standings.
A win over Los Gatos last Saturday would have been big for the Falcons and could have gotten them within a couple of games of Gunn. But Saratoga came up a run short in the battle with the Cats.
Gatos fought back from a 5-1 deficit on Saturday to edge Saratoga 9-8. A five-run rally in the fourth and a three-run outburst in the sixth seemed to wrap things up for the Cats.
But there was no quit in Saratoga, and the Falcons picked up three runs in the seventh before the final hitter rolled out to shortstop for the last out.
The Cats had picked up three in the sixth to snag a 9-5 lead, and with their ace, Alex Rollin, still on the hill it appeared that Gatos was zeroing in on the win.
But Saratoga wasn't about to go down without a fight.
Buck Wright, who had ripped a two-run double earlier in the game, ripped the first pitch he saw on a line to right field, but it was right at the outfielder for the first out.
Justin Oliver followed with a long home run over the left field fence, and the Falcons had cut the lead to 9-6.
Marc Muniz worked a walk, but after a strikeout the Falcons were down to their final out.
Scott Moran ripped a hard ground ball to shortstop, but the infielder threw wide of the bag. Moran was safe at first, and a hustling Muniz raced all the way to third, putting runners at the corners.
Moran promptly stole second, and on the next pitch Jon Anderson ripped a two-run single to left-center to trim the Gatos lead to a run.
Pinch hitter Kyle Louderback followed with a ground ball to short, but this time the throw was true, and the Wildcats had the win.
Saratoga scored first in the game with a run in the third. Chris Filip worked a walk on a 3-2 pitch and raced to second on an errant pick-off attempt. Bret Behnke walked, and two outs later Muniz singled up the middle to drive in a run.
Gatos answered with a run in the bottom of the third to tie it, but the Falcons unloaded for four in the fourth.
Moran reached on an error and raced to third on a double to left by Anderson. With the infield in, John Finnegan chopped a ground ball to short. Moran raced for the plate and was safe when the throw sailed wide.
Saratoga had runners on the corners with no outs, and Finnegan swiped second. Filip walked to load the bases, and again the Gatos infield was pulled in. Behnke chopped a ground ball to third and the only play was at first. Behnke was out, but Anderson scored to give the Falcons a 3-1 lead.
Wright ripped a double to left-center to knock in two runs, but he was thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple.
Once more, though, Los Gatos answered back, scoring five in the home half of the fourth to lead 6-5.
Anderson singled and doubled to knock in two runs for the Falcons in the game and Wright had the two-run double. Oliver homered and Filip, Muniz and Moran each singled.
Warriors split
Westmont split a pair of games in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League (BVAL) last week. The Warriors edged Willow Glen 6-5 before getting blanked 5-0 by Leigh.
Mike Gorski pounded three hits and Brandon Rose ripped a double to lead Westmont to the win over the Rams.
Westmont jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first, but the Warriors found themselves behind when Willow Glen picked up two in the second, two in the fifth and one in the sixth.
The Warriors rallied for two in the bottom of the seventh, though, to clinch the win.
Bryen Blankenship came on in relief to pick up the mound win, his first of the year.
Things didn't go as well for the Warriors two days later against Leigh. Ben Peterson doubled to account for one of Westmont's four hits in the game.
Westmont, now 2-6 in the division and 7-9 for the year, will try to get back on the winning track with three games this week. The Warriors were to visit Oak Grove on Monday, they will host Valley Christian on April 17 and they will head to Santa Teresa on April 19. Games begin at 3:30 p.m.
Panthers win two
Prospect won a pair of games last week, but only one of them helped the Panthers in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL.
Prospect pounded Independence 12-5 in league play last week and picked up a 9-3 non-league win over Lynbrook.
Nick Graydon had three hits to drive in four runs in Prospect's win over the 76ers. Andrew Meade tripled in the 13-hit attack for the Panthers and Kevin McPeck drove in three runs.
Aaron Jacks was the winning pitcher for Prospect, evening his mound record at 2-2.
The win helped the Panthers improve to a league-leading 8-1 in the Santa Teresa Division, and Prospect is now 10-5 for the year after nailing the non-league win over Prospect on Thursday.
Kyle Bonvechio had a big day for the Panthers in the 9-3 win over the Vikings.
Four was Bonvechio's lucky number with four hits, all of them doubles, to knock in four runs in the win.
David Lenske claimed the mound win, pushing his record to 2-1.
Prospect jumped out to an early lead with five runs in the first and three in the second. Lynbrook could manage just single runs in the third, sixth and seventh.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
