Saturday's loss put them at 2-1 in the pool and set up a showdown with 2-1 Los Gatos on July 14 to determine which one of the two teams will claim the second seed in Pool A and final qualifying spot in the district semifinals.

Saratoga fell victim to a fine pitching performance from Almaden's Scott Fleury and Nate Underwood to start off the week. Fleury pitched the first three innings, surrendering just four infield singles, and Underwood finished with three innings of shutout baseball.

Almaden jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first when Underwood walked and Nick Backlund followed with a two-run homer to right-center.

Saratoga then battled back in the bottom of the second when Matt Spencer and Barrett Glasauer led off with infield hits. Austin Carta-Samuels knocked home Spencer by scorching a ball through the Almaden second baseman's legs to cut the lead to one. With two outs, Michael Guercio tied the game when he beat out a slow roller to third to score Glasauer.

Almaden reclaimed the lead in the third when Fleury hit an RBI single, but Spencer limited the damage by quickly retrieving the ball in center field and throwing Fleury out at second.

Almaden got two more in the fourth on a wild pitch and a solo home run by Backlund that just cleared the 198-foot mark in right field.

Saratoga tried to mount a comeback in the fourth when Carta-Samuels led off with a single to right, but Almaden left fielder Nick Vitelli made a spectacular diving catch in the gap to rob Guercio of an extra-base hit.

Almaden added three more in the fifth to round out the scoring at 8-2. Saratoga's lone bright spot in the late innings was Spencer's 1-2-3 inning of relief pitching in the sixth.

"We got excellent relief from (Spencer)," said Saratoga manager Dennis Farmer. "We also made some nice defensive plays. (Guercio) threw two runners out on passed balls in the second, our outfielders made some nice plays and Yanni Ellenikiotis made a difficult play at first. But for the most part, they hit them where we weren't."

Saratoga took on the philosophy of hitting them where they weren't when they played Quito in a must-win game on Saturday. Saratoga got all the runs they would need in the first inning, as the team batted around to knock in six.

Saratoga's Joey Avery backed the offense's production by pitching three perfect innings to start the game. Avery did not surrender a hit until the fourth inning.

Quito scored scattered runs in the late innings, but it would not be enough to come back. Ellenikiotis came in for Avery in the sixth after the fatigued starter allowed a few Quito hitters to reach base and promptly closed to door to seal the 6-2 victory and set up the Monday night showdown with Los Gatos.


Quito majors

The Quito major division all-star team probably wishes the old phrase "close only counts in horseshoes" didn't have to apply to their performance in the District 12 all-star tournament. The Quito 11- and 12-year-olds dropped three close ballgames by a combined margin of seven runs last week. In particular, the Quito all-stars nearly pulled out an improbable comeback against Los Gatos in their second game of pool play on July 8, but finished with nothing to show for their efforts in a 2-0 loss.

Nick Hirschman picked up the complete game victory for Gatos, striking out 11 and surrendering just two hits. Quito's Colin Carney pitched four solid innings surrendering the two lone runs of the game and Jonny Wahl added a scoreless inning of relief.

"That was a tougher game than I expected," said Los Gatos manager Dan Kropp. "I didn't think those two runs would be the only ones we would score, but Quito pitched well."

Hirschman made it seem as though Los Gatos might run away with the victory by fanning eight of the first nine batters he faced. Meanwhile, Los Gatos had jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second when Justin Lewis singled home Kiko Alonso and Colin Chapman.

But Carney would not let Quito fade away. Carney surrendered no more runs in his four innings of work on the mound, while striking out five to keep Los Gatos off the board. He also contributed at the plate with an infield single in the fourth that broke up Hirschman's perfect game.

"We had good pitching," said Quito manager Neal Carney. "Other than the (RBI single), Los Gatos didn't hit the ball too hard."

Quito mounted a rally in the fifth when Keith Nyberg blooped a single over second base for his team's second hit. With two outs, Dylan Fish drew a walk to move Nyberg into scoring position, but Hirschman quickly closed the door with his 11th strikeout.

Not to be discouraged, the Quito hitters sparked another threat in the sixth inning. Leadoff hitter Matt Williams drew a walk and advanced to second on a groundout. With two outs, Quito's hopes rode on the shoulders of clean-up hitter, Wahl, who represented the tying run. Wahl hit a soaring flyball to deep right field that Los Gatos' Geo Shannon tracked down on the warning track while battling the setting sun shining into his eyes to end the game.

Quito also dropped a tight 4-3 ballgame to Lincoln Glen on Thursday July 10. In their 6-2 loss to Saratoga on Saturday July 12, they clawed back from a 6-0 deficit in the first and nearly brought the tying run to the plate in a late sixth inning rally.


9/10 all-stars

As of Friday July 11, Saratoga was one win away from finishing second in its pool and advancing to the semi-finals on July 14. Saratoga racked up a 2-1 record in pool play with victories over Willow Glen (13-2) and Almaden "B" (6-5) and a 6-3 loss to first-place Cambrian Park.

Quito's younger all-stars defeated Los Gatos "B" 9-2 in their first pool play game. As of Friday July 11, Quito was 1-2 in its pool.