Photograph by Robert Scheer
Saratoga's Anne Kluetmeier makes the scoop at first for the out against Monta Vista.
By Dick Sparrer
On the schedule it looks simple enough--it's the last week of the girls' softball season in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. But there's nothing simple about it. Westmont, Leland and Leigh go into the final week of the campaign in a race for title, and there's plenty left to be determined.
Leland rests atop the pack heading into the final week of play, with Westmont second and Leigh third. But it's not going to be easy to sort things out. Westmont must still face both Leland and Leigh, and then there's the matter of a couple of unfinished games.
Leland leads the division with an 8-1-1 record. Westmont is second at 7-1-2, with Leigh third at 7-2-1.
The Warriors will host Leland on May 7 and visit Leigh on May 9. What's more, the Warriors have games to finish with each of the front-running clubs.
So the final week of the season? Yes, it is. But simple? Not even close.
The race is certainly close, though, largely because of a couple of solid pitching performances last week by senior ace Renee Sease.
Sease tossed Westmont to a tight 5-4 win over Mitty to open play last week, then flipped a two-hit shutout to spark the Warriors to a 2-0 win over Santa Teresa a couple of days later.
Sease struck out 10 and went the distance in the win over the Saints. The Warriors picked up two runs in the fifth to break up the scoreless tie, and Sease threw zeroes at the Saints for seven innings.
Things weren't as easy against Mitty. Sease went the distance to pick up the win, but she had to go nine innings before claiming the victory against the Monarchs.
Mitty scored single runs in the first, fourth and fifth to take a 3-1 lead, but Westmont rallied for three in the seventh. The Monarchs tied it with a run in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings.
But Westmont broke the tie with a run in the ninth, and Sease blanked Mitty in the home half of the frame to clinch the win.
Sease scattered 11 hits in the game, striking out 13 along the way.
Senior outfielder Genny Nickerson ripped three hits and drove in two runs for the Warriors. Lynee Velasco ripped a double.
The Warriors improved to 18-4-2 for the year with the two wins. Sease owns a 17-3-2 pitching record.
Falcons lose two
Saratoga outhit Palo Alto 12-11 last week, but the Falcons dropped an 11-8 decision to the Vikings in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
It was the second loss of the week for the Falcons, who had fallen 10-1 to Monta Vista a few days earlier. Saratoga is now 3-9 in division play.
Sophomore Clancy Roberts singled and doubled and Anne Kluetmeier, Liz Wolthausen, Stacey Hall and Lindsey Babb added two hits each, but the the Falcons came up short against Paly.
Saratoga led 5-1 after five innings, but the Vikes scored three each in the sixth and seventh. The Falcons tied it with two in the home half of the seventh, but a four-run Paly rally in the eighth led the Vikings to the victory.
Earlier in the week, Amy Leu singled and scored a run, but the Falcons lost a 10-1 decision to Monta Vista.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, May 8, 1996.
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