Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Westmont's Lisa Chapman tossed a three-hitter in a tight 4-3 win over Mountain View in the CCS Division II softball playoffs, but the Warriors lost 3-0 to North Monterey County a game later to fall out of the playoffs.

Warriors advance to semis

Westmont did well outside division

By Dick Sparrer

Up until last week, the Westmont baseball team hadn't fared too well playing outside its league.

The Warriors were OK in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League--more than OK, in fact... they were 14-4 and co-champions with Del Mar.

But outside the division? The Warriors were a dismal 1-6.

Remember, though, that was up until last week.

Westmont was playing outside its division last week when the Warriors opened the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs, and they did quite nicely, indeed.

The Warriors edged North Monterey County 3-2, and they came back with a very satifying 10-7 win over Del Mar last weekend.

The two wins push Westmont into the CCS Division II semifinals this week. The Warriors will take their 17-10 season record up against Burlingame (15-12) on May 27 at San Jose Municipal Stadium. The winner moves on to play for the CCS championship.

Junior Kyle Collins was the hitting star for the Warriors in the first two playoff wins. Collins cracked a pair of singles to account for both of his club's hits in the 3-2 win over North Monterey County to open the playoffs; then he came back with three hits in the Saturday win over Del Mar.

Senior right-hander Ryan Hanson tossed a four-hitter, fanning six and walking just two, to lead the Warriors to the tight win over NMC in the first round of the tourney.

The Warriors scored single runs in the third, fourth and fifth, and that proved all Hanson needed. He was touched for single runs in the fourth and sixth, but North Monterey came up a run short. Hanson ran his season record to 10-1 with the mound win.

Collins led a 10-hit Westmont attack with his three singles in the win over Del Mar. That victory was especially sweet for the Warriors, who had tied with the Dons for the division title.

Sophomore right-hander Matt Malott was the winning pitcher for the Warriors. He upped his season mark to 6-3 with the win. Hanson came on to pick up the save with two-plus innings of nifty relief work.

Run-scoring singles by Hanson, Tony La-Vista and Sean Felder keyed a seven-run rally in the third that gave Westmont a 9-6 lead. Del Mar had scored three in the first, one in the second and two in the third to take a 6-2 advantage into the bottom of the third.

Soph Schyler Nolan cracked a double in the Westmont victory. Collins knocked in two runs.

The Westmont girls' softball team opened the CCS Division II playoffs with a tight 4-3 win over Mountain View.

Lisa Chapman whirled a three-hitter for the win. The Warriors claimed the victory when they scored a run in the top half of the seventh to snap a 3-3 tie.

The clubs played to a scoreless tie through three innings, but Westmont picked up two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to lead 3-0.

Chapman was cruising along with a shutout through five innings, but the Spartans exploded for three runs in the sixth to tie it. That just set the stage for Westmont's tie-breaking run in the seventh, and Chapman blanked Mountain View in the bottom of the seventh to clinch the win.

But Westmont was blanked 3-0 by North Monterey County a game later to fall out of the playoffs. The young Warriors finished the year with a solid 19-18 season record.

Young? That's right. The Warriors were quite young this spring. Chapman was one of eight freshmen on the Westmont varsity squad. The other four players were sophomores. So the entire Westmont roster returns for not only the next season, but the next two seasons!

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