After all, the coach had his newfound ace, Ricky Meinhold, on the mound.

And Meinhold came through just as Miller had hoped, tossing a four-hitter to lead the Warriors to a 6-2 win over the Bruins.

Branham went in front 2-0 in the first inning, thanks in part to a Westmont error. But that would be the only error of the day for the Warriors, and those would be the only runs that Meinhold would allow.

The junior went on to blank Branham the rest of the way to nail a complete game victory for Westmont. Meinhold struck out six and allowed just one earned run as he pushed his mound record to 3-0 for the year.

Miller had to be getting a little nervous, though. Because while Meinhold was blanking Branham after the first, the Warriors were held scoreless through five innings.

But Westmont unloaded for six runs in the sixth, and that was more than enough.

A two-run double by Josh Herzbrun and a solo homer by Mitch Monroe sparked Westmont to the game-winning rally.

Meinhold helped his own cause with a pair of singles in the game, and Brad Davis doubled.

The win pushed Westmont to 4-0 in the Santa Teresa Division.

After a fast start in the Blossom Valley Tournament, the Prospect baseball team has run into its own rocky times in Mt. Hamilton Division play.

The Panthers finished second at Blossom Valley, but they're 0-4 in the early days of the Mt. Hamilton campaign.

Prospect lost a 5-2 heartbreaker to Oak Grove in nine innings last week. Ted Piggins tripled to lead a four-hit Prospect effort.

The Panthers broke up a scoreless tie with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the Eagles tied it with two in the top of the seventh and won it with three more runs in the top of the ninth.

Leland scored single runs in the first and third, and that was all the Chargers needed for a 2-0 win last week. Prospect had just one hit in the game.

In the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, meanwhile, Saratoga rolled to a lopsided 17-7 win over Monta Vista. The Falcons scored 12 runs in the first three innings to take a commanding lead. Saratoga is 1-0 in league play and 4-3 for the year.

Senior Brett Behnke had a big day for the Falcons. Not only was he the winning pitcher but he doubled, singled twice and knocked in a couple of runs in the game.

Jon Anderson doubled twice for the Falcons, and Buck Wright and Jeff Lyn each singled and tripled. Ryan Newberry also had two hits in the win.

Anderson, Wright and Newberry drove in three runs each for the Falcons, and Lyn and Brett Granum knocked in two apiece.


Panthers 2-0

Prospect has jumped out to a 2-0 start in boys tennis play in the Santa Teresa Division this spring. The Panthers rolled to a 5-2 win over Branham last week to even their season record to 2-2 and push to 2-0 in the league season.

"I'm very excited about this season," said coach Stacey Rader. "We have a young and enthusiastic team that is off to a great start."

"This is my first year coaching the boys team," she added, "and I am very proud of how hard they are working."

The Panthers are coming off an 0-14 season, but Rader is looking for her squad to finish in the middle of the pack this season with a solid crop of lettermen, most of them juniors.

Senior Aaron Levin joins juniors Mike Leopold, Noaya Kishida, Jesse Goddard, Ramya Jagarlamundi, Daniel Kim, Kotano Kusanagi and Ben Hines as top returners from last year's squad.

Freshmen Long Trang and Takeya Sugie are top newcomers for Prospect.

Leopold won 7-6, 6-1 at No. 1 singles to lead the Panthers to the win over the Bruins last week. Goddard won 6-0, 6-4 at No. 4 singles.

Prospect swept in doubles play. Kusanagi and Hines teamed for a win at No. 1, Jagarlamundi and Trang won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2 and Kim and Sugie won 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3. Jagarlamundi and Trang are unbeaten at No. 2 doubles this season.

In the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, Saratoga is 0-3 after losing 6-1 to Monta Vista, 4-3 to Lynbrook and 4-3 to Palo Alto. A.J. Kerin won twice at No. 1 singles in the losses to Lynbrook and Paly.

Kerin won twice in non-league play to lead the Falcons to victories over Harker, 6-1, and Mountain View, 6-1.