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Doing the Math at Prospect
Warriors, Falcons also hoping things add up for playoff berths
By Dick Sparrer
It may be time to recruit a member of the math club to join the baseball team at Prospect--because it's getting very close to numbers crunching time for the Panthers.
Sure, Prospect may be sitting in fourth place in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, and only the top two teams in the division gain automatic entry in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
But, at least from a mathematical standouts, the Panthers have a shot.
Willow Glen (13-1) has already wrapped up the championship in the division race, but only two games separate Prospect (7-7) and second-place Piedmont Hills (10-5). The Panthers have four games left to play, and one of them is against those Pirates.
It goes without saying that the Panthers would have to win out to have a shot at clinching an automatic CCS berth. And even if they do win their last four, there's no guarantee that the Panthers could catch the Pirates.
But in the numbers game, they're still alive, thanks in no small part to a clutch win over Independence last week.
Prospect evened its league record at 7-7 with a 6-4 win over the 76ers last Tuesday.
Kyle Bonvechio homered and singled to drive in two runs and Myke Gordon singled and doubled to knock in two more to lead the Panthers past the Sixers.
Gordon was also the winning pitcher for Prospect, and Andrew Meade came on in relief to claim his third save of the year. It was Gordon's first mound win this season.
Prospect will be home this week to battle third-place Pioneer is a key game. The Mustangs (8-7) will visit the Panthers on May 3, 3:30 p.m.
Over in the Mount Hamilton Division, Westmont's title hopes were dealt a severe blow last week when the Warriors dropped back-to-back games to pace-setting Leigh and Valley Christian.
The two losses left the Warriors 8-7 in the division. Leigh tops the pack at 11-3 with Valley a close second at 11-4.
Ben Peterson ripped three hits, and Travis Cheney belted two, but the Warriors dropped an 8-7 heartbreaker to Valley last Wednesday.
Westmont actually trailed 8-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh, but waged a valiant six-run rally to cut the lead to 8-7, only to come up a run short.
The 8-5 loss to Leigh on Friday further injured Westmont's title hopes. Now the Warriors find themselves in a battle with Santa Teresa and Oak Grove to claim an automatic CCS berth.
Westmont has just three league games remaining and could likely clinch a berth by winning them all. The Warriors face a tough test this week when they visit Oak Grove on May 2, 3:30 p.m.
Like Prospect, Saratoga is starting to check out the numbers as the Falcons head down the final stretch in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
The Falcons came through with two big wins last week to push their record to 6-8 in the division. Saratoga knocked off Cupertino 5-3 in a crucial game, then pounded Monta Vista 11-1.
The Falcons now sit in the middle of the pack in the division. They're a game and a half behind third-place Los Gatos (7-6) and a half game up on fifth-place Cupertino (5-8).
Saratoga took over fourth with the win over the Pioneers last week.
Junior Chris Filip singled and doubled to lead an 11-hit Saratoga attack in the win over Cupertino. Caleb Mosley, Todd Ziegler and Marc Muniz also had two hits each in the game.
Junior Justin Oliver was the winning pitcher, blanking the Pioneers six innings. He ran into a jam in the seventh, but sophomore Brett Behnke came on to put out the fire and pick up the save.
Behnke came back to claim the mound win in the 11-1 win over the Matadors. The Falcons held the Mats to just three hits and a single run in the fourth.
Muniz crushed a first-inning grand slam to key a seven-run rally as Saratoga staked Behnke to an early lead in the game.
Muniz finished the day with a double and a homer to drive in six runs for the Falcons. Oliver added two hits for Saratoga and Mosley drove in two runs.
The Falcons face a big game this week as they shoot for a postseason playoff berth. Saratoga will head to Los Gatos for a 3:30 p.m. game on May 2. A win for the Falcons would put them into a virtual third-place tie with the Wildcats.
There's no playoff talk going on at Lynbrook, not after back-to-back losses to Palo Alto and Santa Clara left the Vikings 3-7-1 in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL.
The Vikings opened the week by dropping a 7-6 heartbreaker to the Bruins. Santa Clara battled back from a 6-4 deficit with two in the sixth to tie the game, then won it with a run in the seventh.
Justin Flood, Brodie Maag and Eric Barnes had two hits apiece for the Vikings and Brian Seip ripped a double in the loss.
Lynbrook lost 10-7 to Palo Alto two days later. Barnes had four hits for the Vikings and Seip and Flood each doubled and singled twice.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
