By Dick Sparrer
Prospect didn't play last week, but the Panthers will go.
Westmont and Saratoga did play last week, but neither the Warriors nor the Falcons are going.
Going where? To the Central Coast Section baseball playoffs.
Prospect earned a trip to CCS by winning the championship in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
Saratoga finished second in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, but it wasn't enough to get the Falcons to the postseason. And Westmont finished down in the pack in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL.
So Prospect is the only local team advancing, and the Panthers will open postseason play on May 15 when they visit No. 2-seeded Carmel (25-2) at 4 p.m. at Sollecito Park in Monterey.
Monterey (21-9) is the top-seeded team in the CCS Division II playoffs, but many coaches consider Carmel to be the team to beat.
And Prospect hopes to do just that when hurlers Paul Solis and Bruce Morrow lead the Panthers into playoff action. Brandon Gomez, Jamini Claus, Brandon Morgan and Matt Medlin lead the Prospect bat attack heading into the postseason.
The winner of Wednesday's Prospect-Carmel game will advance to the CCS quarterfinals on May 18, 4 p.m., at Washington Park in Santa Clara against the winner of the Sacred Heart Prep-Soquel game.
Falcons fall
Any hopes Saratoga may have had for a postseason berth were dealt a severe blow when the Falcons lost 14-6 to Cupertino on the final day of the regular season.
The loss left Saratoga 12-6 in the El Camino Division and 15-7 for the year.
Joel Reikes blasted a 2-run homer and Ken Nickel singled and doubled to drive in a pair of runs in the loss to the Pioneers. The Falcons had just five hits in the game.
Saratoga had opened the week with a solid 8-3 win over Gunn. Sophomore hurler David Schneider went the distance to flip a seven-hitter for the win. Schneider pushed his record to 7-1 for the year with the victory.
Junior Kyle Cardin homered and doubled to drive in three runs for Saratoga. Kota Takamoto and Stephen Oberhauser ripped two hits apiece for the Falcons.
Warriors at .500
Westmont finished the year at an even .500 after a 13-2 nonleague loss to Leigh left the Warriors
11-11.
The Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, but the playoff-bound Longhorns rallied for three in the third to take the lead, then broke the game open with five in the sixth.
It marked the final varsity game for senior stars Vinny Perez and Andy Brown. It was the fourth varsity season for Perez and the third for Brown.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, May 15, 1996.
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