Photograph by Douglas Rider
Westmont pitcher Reed Dickert uncorks a pitch in last week's CCS Division II playoff clash with Palma. But Dickert and the Warriors dropped a 5-4 decision to Palma to fall out of the playoffs.
Warriors win, Vikings fall at CCS
Westmont, Prospect lose in baseball
By Dick Sparrer
Many folks are making plans right now for the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend.
The girls on the Westmont High School softball team are too. But their plans have nothing to do with a trip to Tahoe or a barbecue at the beach.
No, the Warriors would much rather spend their Memorial Day Weekend at San Jose's PAL Stadium playing for the Central Coast Section Division II championship.
And if they can pick up on a win on Thursday afternoon, that's just what they'll be doing.
Westmont opened the CCS playoffs with a 4-2 win over Burlingame last Saturday and now will advance to the section semifinals on May 23, 3 p.m., against Notre Dame-Belmont at PAL.
The Warriors, the No. 3 seed in the tourney, will take their 20-10 season record up against No. 2 seed Notre Dame (24-5). The winner will meet the Carlmont (23-8)-Mitty (30-3) winner in the CCS championship game on May 26 at PAL.
Notre Dame-Belmont opened the playoffs with a 4-2 win over St. Francis. In other quarterfinal games, No. 1 seed Mitty edged Monterey 2-1 and No. 5 seed Carlmont nipped Presentation 3-2.
Westmont, meanwhile, battled back from a 1-0 deficit to beat Burlingame on Saturday.
The Panthers scored a run in the first, but the Warriors battled back with a run in the second to tie it. Westmont added another run in the third to take the lead, then scored two insurance runs in the fourth.
The insurance would pay off for Westmont when Burlingame picked up a run in the seventh.
Lisa Chapman went the distance to toss a five-hitter for the Westmont win. She ran her pitching record to 18-8.
Katherine Bamford tripled to lead a five-hit attack for the Warriors.
The Warriors drew a first-round bye in the playoffs while Burlingame was opening with a 6-1 win over Los Gatos.
Westmont earned its playoff berth by finishing second in the Mount Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. Mitty won the division title with a 13-1 record and Westmont was second at 11-3.
Members of the Westmont squad include Chapman, Bamford, Jenny Brown, Brittany Hennig, Jessica Davis, Victoria Alexander, Bonnie Huggett, Ashley Carrothers, Danielle Chapman, Kyle Soden, Jessica Parola and Michelle Salmiery.
Vikings fall
Lynbrook's Stacey Benzing didn't allow an earned run when the Vikings opened the CCS Division I girls softball playoffs last Friday night against Gilroy.
But the Mustangs took advantage of three Lynbrook errors to score three unearned runs to pull out a 3-0 win over the Vikes at PAL Stadium.
Benzing was impressive in the game. The senior right hander tossed a two-hitter and struck out 11. But the three Lynbrook errors--one that she committed herself--proved costly for the Vikes.
What's more, the Vikings had their troubles at the plate against Gilroy ace Andrea Bunten. The senior hurler flipped a one-hitter and struck out 13, retiring the side in order in six of the seven innings.
Gilroy scored again in the second when Jennifer Olivera reached on an error, took second on a passed ball, moved to third on a fielder's choice and scored when an infield pop fell in for a hit despite an attempt for a diving catch by Benzing.
The Mustangs added a third unearned run in the third, but this one proved controversial. Benzing plunked Christina Reyes with a pitch, and the big slugger gave way to pinch runner Allyce Mardesich. Gilroy sacrificed her to second, but Benzing fanned the next hitter.
Benzing then got Olivera to hit a bouncer to short, but the throw pulled first sacker D.J. Sullivan off the bag. As she scrambled to find the base, Mardesich came flying home. Sullivan fired to catcher Julianne Cadden who put the tag on the runner well in front of the plate. But the umpire called Mardesich safe. In the confusion, Olivera took off for second, but Cadden fired to shortstop Lauren Lueder who applied the tag for the final out of the inning.
Through the first three innings, Bunten was mowing down the Vikings. Nine straight hitters went down, six of them on strikes.
But Benzing broke up the perfect game with a line shot down the left field line on the first pitch of the fourth. She was safe at second with a head first slide to give Lynbrook an inning-opening double. She then took third on a passed ball.
Stacy Bolt chopped a ground ball to third. The third sacker checked Benzing, who was dancing off the bag, then turned to throw to first. But Bolt had gotten down the line so quickly that the infielder just held the ball.
Bolt stole second to put runners at first and second and give the Vikings their first threat of the night. But Bunten got the next three hitters on a pop to third and two strikeouts.
Bunten struck out the side in the fifth, and put the Vikings down one-two-three in the sixth and seventh to clinch the win.
The Vikes had only three hard-hit balls off Bunten, the double by Benzing and solid ground balls by Bolt and Angie Lin.
After Bunten had whiffed five of the first six batters she faced, Lin opened the third with what appeared to be a single to right. But second sacker Natalie Justo made a diving stop and got up to throw her out.
Bolt hit a rocket to the right of the shortstop with two outs in the sixth, but Olivera made a backhand stop and threw out the Lynbrook runner.
The loss ended Lynbrook's season. The Vikings finished the year 18-4 overall. They posted a 12-0 record to win the championship in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League for veteran head coach Linda Nichols.
Members of the championship team included Cadden, Benzing, Lin, Lueder, Bolt, Sullivan, Tracy Motzney, Meredith Lee, Erica Liu, Nicole Gerardin, Teresa Baldwin, Trisha Lawton and Sarah Yu.
Warriors, Panthers fall
The Westmont and Prospect baseball teams each lost in the first round of the CCS Division II playoffs.
Westmont dropped a 5-4 decision to Palma to wind up the season with a 16-11 record.
The Warriors had finished third in the rugged Mount Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League behind Valley Christian and Leigh. Valley rolled to a 14-4 record to win the division title with Leigh second at 13-5 and Westmont third at 11-7.
The third-place finish secured Westmont an automatic playoff berth, but the Warriors were paired with powerful Palma in the first round and lost 5-4.
Members of head coach Jason Miller's talented Westmont squad this spring included Travis Cheney, Reed Dickert, Mike Gorski, Jacob Goytia, Joshua Herzbrun, Mike Haynes, Liem Hinh, Colin McAvoy, John McAvoy, Matt Mills, Henry Perez, Ben Peterson, Brandon Rose, Chris Snyder and Bill Stouffer.
Prospect earned a berth in the playoffs, but lost 13-2 to powerhouse Valley Christian in the first round, despite getting a solo home run from Myke Gordon.
The loss left the Panthers 12-12 for the season.
Prospect had finished third in the Santa Teresa Division with a 10-8 record.
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