Photograph by Chad Pilster
Westmont shortstop Joshua Herzbrun hauls in a line drive during third-inning action against Del Mar. The Warriors knocked off the Dons 6-2.
Westmont opens CCS at home
Warriors, Vikings in girls softball playoffs
By Dick Sparrer
There's no place like home.
And no one knows that better than the baseball players at Westmont High School.
That's because they're mighty happy to be opening the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs at home this week.
The Warriors, 16-10 for the year, finished third in the rugged Mount Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League this spring, and enter the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in Division II. They'll open the playoffs at home on May 17, 4 p.m., when they host Palma (12-9) in a first-round game.
The winner will move on to the CCS quarterfinals on May 19, 7 p.m., at Washington Park in Santa Clara against the South San Francisco (19-5)-Gunn (17-5) first-round winner.
Prospect has also earned a place in the CCS Division II playoffs, but the Panthers will open on the road when they take their 12-11 season record to Valley Christian (23-7) on May 17, 4 p.m. The winner will move on to Washington Park on Saturday to face the winner of the Aragon (17-7)-North Monterey County (18-11) game.
Westmont wrapped up an 11-7 league season with a 6-2 win over over Del Mar last week. Valley Christian won the Mount Hamilton Division title with Leigh finishing second.
Junior right hander Mike Haynes picked up the mound win as the Warriors held the rival Dons to eight hits in last Thursday's game. Haynes stretched his pitching record to 6-5 with the win.
Joshua Herzbrun ripped a couple of hits to lead a seven-hit attack for the Warriors. Liem Hinh and Ben Peterson each doubled for Westmont and Colin McAvoy knocked in two runs.
Westmont had opened the week with a 5-1 win over Leland. Reed Dickert, another junior right hander, was the winning pitcher, pushing his record to 7-2.
Peterson homered and singled to drive in a couple of runs for the Warriors and McAvoy had two hits.
Over in the Santa Teresa Division, Prospect finished the year with a 10-9 win over Silver Creek, and that proved a big win for the Panthers in their bid to clinch a playoff spot.
Curtis Wills did the job both on the mound and at the plate. The senior right hander was the winning pitcher, improving his record to 6-4, and he also ripped a two-run homer for the Panthers.
J.D. Mazzuca doubled twice for Prospect in the win. Andrew Meade and Brent Maselli had two hits apiece and Kyle Bonvechio drove in two runs.
In the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, Saratoga came up short in its bid for a playoff berth.
The Falcons lost twice to division leaders Wilcox and Gunn to wind up the year 8-10 in league play and 10-12 for the season.
The schedule worked against the Falcons. They needed a couple of games in the final week to get to the postseason, but they were slated to play first-place Wilcox and second-place Gunn in their final two games.
Saratoga lost 13-3 in five innings to the Titans to open the week. Caleb Mosley doubled in the loss for the Falcons.
Things didn't get much better later in the week against Wilcox, though the Falcons gave the Chargers a battle before falling 12-7.
Wilcox scored four runs in the first and three in the second to take a commanding 7-0 lead, but the Falcons unloaded for seven runs in the bottom of the second to tie the game.
That was the best the Falcons could do, though. Wilcox picked up three runs in the fourth and single runs in the fifth and seventh to pull out the win.
Scott Moran ripped a three-run double to key that seven-run outburst in the second.
Vikes, Warriors at CCS
The season came to an end for the girls softball teams of the SCVAL and BVAL last week--at least, for some of them.
Both Lynbrook and Westmont will play on after claiming berths in the upcoming CCS softball playoffs that begin this week.
The Vikings and Warriors both earned automatic postseason spots by finishing among the leaders in their divisions.
Lynbrook posted a 12-0 record to win the division title in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL, and Westmont notched an 11-3 mark to finish second in the tough Mount Hamilton Division of the BVAL.
Lynbrook, 18-3 for the year, draws a first-round bye in the tournament. The Vikings will open the playoffs in the quarter-final round of the CCS Division I playoffs on May 18, 7 p.m., at PAL Stadium against the Independence (15-7)-Gilroy (24-9) first-round winner.
Westmont, 19-10 overall, also faces a first-round bye. The Warriors will open the playoffs in the quarterfinals of the CCS Division II playoffs on May 19, noon, at PAL Stadium against the Los Gatos (13-13)-Burlingame (20-8) first-round winner.
Lynbrook wrapped up a perfect league season last week with back-to-back shutout wins over Fremont and Homestead.
Stacey Benzing blanked Fremont on two hits to lead the Vikings to a 9-0 win last week. Benzing, who struck out 13 and ran her pitching record to 13-2 with the win, ripped four hits to lead a 10-hit attack for Lynbrook.
Stephanie Cadden singled and tripled to drive in three runs for the Vikes.
Benzing had fanned nine and allowed just two hits in a 6-0 win over Homestead earlier in the week. The game was a big one for Lynbrook, which clinched the league championship with the win. The Mustangs had entered the game still mathematically alive in the race for the title.
D.J. Sullivan tripled and singled twice to knock in three runs for the Vikings.
Westmont wrapped up league play with a 4-0 win over Leland on the final day of the regular season.
Senior hurler Lisa Chapman tossed a four-hit shutout to run her seaosn record to 11-2.
Bonnie Huggett was the hitting star for the Warriors with a single and a double to drive in three runs in the win. Brittany Hennig and Jenny Brown ripped two hits apiece and Katherine Bamford bammed a double.
The Warriors were coming off of an impressive 5-0 win over Presentation. Chapman threw a two-hit shutout in that one and Brown crushed a three-run triple in the fourth. Hennig singled and doubled for the Warriors and Chapman had two hits.
Westmont's title hopes had come to an end earlier that week after a 3-0 loss to Mitty. The Monarchs went on to claim the crown with a 13-1 record.
The Warriors were coming off of back-to-back shutouts heading into the Mitty game.
Chapman blanked Piedmont Hills on three hits in a 4-0 Westmont win. Hennig led the bat attack with three singles and Bamford singled and tripled. Huggett doubled in the win, and L. Chapman and Danielle Chapman each had two hits.
L. Chapman fired a three-hit shutout and helped her own cause with a two-run single in the fifth to drive Westmont to a 2-0 win over Oak Grove.
Vikings win title
The Lynbrook badminton team posted a 12-0 record to win the frosh-soph championship in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
The top Viking performers went on to compete at the SCVAL finals and placed in every division.
Sophomore Sandy Chang and freshman Julie Cheng joined forces to finish second in girls doubles, winning their way into the finals before losing a tough 15-13, 15-10 decision to Linh Banh and Rithika Kumar of Cupertino.
Sophomores Hue-Wen Shih and Jennifer Su finished fourth in girls doubles for Lynbrook.
Yen-Min Chu and Teresa Huang teamed to place third in mixed doubles, and Ryan Aralar and Michael Tsai nailed fourth in boys doubles. All four Vikings are sophomores.
Patrick Shih and Alvin Jeng of Saratoga beat the Lynbrook pair 15-9, 15-13 in boys doubles, but lost in the finals to a team from Palo Alto.
Sophomore Julia Niazov tied for fifth in girls singles competition and soph Jerry Wang tied for fifth in boys singles for Lynbrook.
The Lynbrook varsity posted a 9-3 record in league play to finish second to Palo Alto in the division standings.
Volleyball teams fall
The boys volleyball teams from Saratoga, Westmont and Prospect all lost last week in the Central Coast Section playoffs, but the Falcons lost only after opening the tournament with a win over Willow Glen.
Saratoga edged the Rams 16-14, 15-13, 15-12 in the first round before dropping a 15-7, 15-3, 15-10 decision to powerful Mitty. The Falcons ended the year with a 6-5 record overall.
Westmont dropped a 15-8, 15-8, 13-15, 15-12 nod to Homestead in the first round. The Warriors finished the season 11-9.
Prospect wrapped up the season with a 19-3 record after a tough 15-2, 15-9, 15-1 loss to powerful San Lorenzo Valley. The Panthers posted an outstanding 19-3 season record.
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