But so far, that hasn't been the case for the Falcons. It's been a rocky start for Saratoga this spring. The Falcons have lost three of four games to open El Camino Division play, and they're 2-6 in the young season.

Still, that's the key for Saratoga—the season is still young. And Walker has to hope for his experienced crew to turn things around as they make their way to the El Camino schedule. The Falcons certainly have the talent to do it.

"We return seven starters from a team that took second last year," said Walker. "Defense and speed are our strengths.
But five errors against Mountain View and four more against Homestead belied one of those strengths last week as the Falcons slipped to 1-3-1 in the division.

Saratoga lost a 13-12 slugfest to Homestead and fell 7-3 to Mountain View. The Falcons did manage an errorless game against Monta Vista, but still lost 4-0.

Junior Peter Rutti ripped three singles to spark a 10-hit attack for the Falcons against the Mustangs. But Homestead also belted 10 hits and, after Saratoga scored five runs in the top of the sixth to lead 12-9, rallied for a run in the sixth and three more in the seventh to win it.

Saratoga had clubbed eight hits against the Matadors and committed no errors in the field, but the Falcons couldn't plate a run and lost 4-0.

Rutti had two hits, but Saratoga opened the week with a 7-3 loss to the Spartans.

Saratoga's only league win to date was a 13-6 victory over Lynbrook.

Senior Paul Culbertson was the winning pitcher, evening his mound record at 1-1, and Brett Granum provided the offensive punch with a home run.

Tyler Rothenberg led the Falcons at the plate with a double and three singles to drive in three runs. Granum had a single to go with his homer and he also knocked in three runs.

Adam Sato had two hits to plate three runs and Ryan Newberry singled and doubled. Ryan Brenner, Ben Coggins and Matt Wright added two hits each.

Saratoga's only other league game was suspended because of darkness with the score tied 4-4 against Gunn.

In early season action, the Falcons knocked off Wilcox 4-2 behind the solid pitching of Chris Hornberger, and they dropped a tough 6-5 nod to Live Oak.

The Falcons will be out to turn things around this week when they host Gunn in El Camino Division action on March 25, 3:30 p.m. Saratoga hits the road on March 30 to take on Santa Clara at 3:30 p.m. at Washington Park.

Frosh-soph wins

The Saratoga frosh-soph baseball team, meanwhile, is 3-0 in league play. The Falcons had opened the season with three straight losses in non-league play before turning things around in El Camino action.

Scott Newberry, Bo Nielson and Kevin Sieczkarek head up the mound corps for Saratoga, and Augie Lagemann, Eric Finnegan, Scott Darchuk and Joey Pollard are leading the bat attack.