Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Westmont's Kyle Collins puts the tag on a Lynbrook runner in last week's nonleague clash between the two clubs. Westmont lost to Lynbrook and Silver Creek but beat Del Mar in a league game.

Falcons get even with win

Warriors lose a pair, but win when it counts

By Dick Sparrer

The Saratoga baseball players didn't get mad last Friday... they got even. And it came at the expense of the Hollister Haybalers.

The Falcons had lost a tough 5-3 decision to Gunn on Thursday to slip to 8-9 for the year, but they got even for the season with an impressive 6-4 win over the 'Balers on Friday afternoon.

Saratoga evened its season record at 9-9 with the win over Hollister. Earlier in the week the Falcons had split with Gunn, winning 10-9 before losing 5-3, to keep their record even in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. Saratoga is 5-5 in league play.

The Falcons were set to do what they could to nudge over that .500 mark this week when they host Los Altos in an El Camino Division game on April 21, 3:30 p.m. Saratoga will take on Santa Clara on April 24, 3:30 p.m., on the West Valley Community College diamond.

Senior slugger Troy Cardin singled and doubled, and sophomore Erick Raich had two hits to lead the Falcons to the 6-4 nonleague win over Hollister to close out play last week. Sophomore Derek Cartmell ripped a double in the win.

Junior right-hander Brian Cavanaugh was the winning pitcher for the Falcons, evening his record at 2-2.

Saratoga had opened the week with a thrilling 10-9 win over Gunn, thanks to the power of Ryan Bernard and Andre Sorba.

Bernard slammed a home run and also doubled and singled twice to drive in three runs for Saratoga in the win. Sorba socked a homer and ripped two hits to plate a pair of runs for the Falcons.

Nick Blue doubled and singled twice to drive in two runs in the game and Raich had two hits. Mike Drewe added two hits and also picked up the mound win, running his record to 4-2.

The Falcons trailed the Titans 7-2 after two innings, but they battled back with three in the third and two in the fourth to tie it 7-7. Saratoga added two more in the fifth to take the lead, but Gunn tied it with two in the sixth.

The Falcons broke the tie for good, though, with a run in the seventh to pull out the exciting victory.

There were no last-inning heroics for Saratoga a couple of days later. The Falcons fought back from a 5-0 deficit with two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth, but they came up two runs short against the Titans.

Sorba and Brady Moran had two hits apiece for the Falcons, and Cardin cracked a double.

In other local action, Westmont salvaged a busy week with a tight 8-7 win over Del Mar last Saturday.

The Warriors had opened the week with a 5-2 loss to Lynbrook, then lost a 4-0 heartbreaker to Silver Creek on a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth.

But Westmont more than made up for the two nonleague losses with a league win over Del Mar to cap the week.

The Warriors battled from behind with three runs in the fifth inning to pull out the win over the Dons. The win help Westmont improve to 8-2 in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and to 9-8 for the season.

Senior right-hander Ryan Hanson was the winning pitcher for the Warriors, pushing his season record to 5-1. He also helped his own cause at the plate with a couple of hits to drive in two runs.

Junior catcher Seth Zajac blasted a homer and also singled, knocking in two runs in the win. Kyle Collins and Jim Brown added two hits apiece for the Warriors, and Schyler Nolan doubled. Adam Curtis drove in two runs in the win.

Westmont had lost two heartbreakers to open the week.

The Warriors lost 5-2 in nine innings to Lynbrook early in the week. The clubs were tied 1-1 after two innings before Lynbrook scored a run in the fourth to go up 2-1. Westmont tied it with a run in the home half of the sixth, and that's how it remained until the ninth when the Vikings broke it open with three runs.

Zajac singled and doubled, and Tony LaVista had two hits to lead a five-hit attack for the Warriors.

Westmont and Silver Creek battled in a scoreless tie for five and a half innings before the Raiders won it with a grand slam in the sixth on Friday.

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