The Panthers were winless in nine games heading into the April 29 contest, but the Warriors still weren't taking them lightly.

"I can tell you that I wasn't going to let our guys look past Prospect, even though they've struggled," said Westmont assistant coach Corey Kneeshaw.

They didn't. The Warriors managed a hard-earned 4-2 win over the Panthers to improve to 7-3 in league play, two games behind Leland (9-1).

Throughout the first three innings, both teams were unable to get on the scoreboard. Prospect put out a fire in the second inning when Westmont's Ricky Meinhold tried to go to third on a base hit, but was thrown out to end a scoring threat.

In the third, Westmont got a leadoff hit from Justin Jimenez. After a fly out, Jimenez went sliding into second as Prospect attempted to turn a double play. The umpired ruled that Jimenez slid outside the baseline, calling outs at both first and second to end the inning.

Westmont broke the scoreless string in the fourth. With one out, Thomas Acuna singled and stole second. After a ground out that advanced Acuna to third, Dillon Tindall delivered the run with a double to left center.

The Warriors added another run in the fifth. Brad Davis led off the inning with a double. With one out, Ryan Magana launched what he thought was a home run to left, but the home plate umpire said the ball hooked foul. Magana hit the very next pitch he saw into the left center gap for an RBI double and a 2-0 lead.

In Westmont's half of the sixth inning, Acuna led off by drawing a walk and immediately stole second. Meinhold singled in Acuna for a 3-0 lead, then stole second to get into scoring position. The next hitter, Tindall, drew a walk. After a wild pitch moved Meinhold to third, Tindall was picked off of first base. While Tindall was in the rundown, Meinhold made a break for home and scored easily to give Westmont a 4-0 lead.

Zach Brehm got the start for Westmont and was in complete control throughout. Going into the seventh inning, he was looking for the complete game shutout. That's when things got a bit strange, however.

With one out, Prospect's Casey Juull singled to center. After a fly ball for the second out and a walk, a throwing error allowed a run to score and kept the inning alive. After another walk and a seeing-eye infield single scored a second run and loaded the bases, Westmont head coach Jason Miller pulled Brehm and brought in Magana to get the final out, which he did.

Brehm, a tough luck loser in a 1-0 loss to Willow Glen a week earlier, allowed only four hits and had 10 strikeouts, while walking only two.

"He's a competitor," said Kneeshaw of Brehm. "He's pitched two of his best games of the year in his last two starts."

Tindall singled and doubled to lead the Warriors at the plate.

Prospect's pitcher, Juull, tossed a complete game, scattering seven hits, with three strikeouts and three walks. Juull also led the hitting attack for the Panthers with two singles.

Prospect Coach Carlos Boles said of Juull,

"He's done a good job this year without a lot of run support," said Prospect coach Carlos Boles.

"We're going to play for our first league win in the next two weeks," added Boles. "That's our goal. We need to win a game so that this team can have a good feeling going into next year. We're very young. We're playing a lot of sophomores and even a freshman."

Next week will find

The Warriors, 16-9 for the year, play a two-game series against Mt. Pleasant this week. The Warriors were to visit the Cardinals on May 4 and they'll host MP on May 6, 3:30 p.m.

Kneeshaw says Mt. Pleasant is "underrated and dangerous," having beaten both Leland and Leigh this season. Next week Westmont will play a huge series against Leland.

Prospect will end its season with two games each against Willow Glen and Mt. Pleasant. The Panthers visit the Rams on May 6, 3:30 p.m.

Westmont opened play last week with a 10-0 win over Prospect. Meinhold tossed the complete game shutout, striking out 11 and giving up just two hits. He pushed his mound record to 6-2 with the win.

Davis belted a solo homer for the Warriors and Tindall had a couple of singles. Nick Randolph doubled in a pair of runs.

Falcons, Franchi split

Nikki Franchi threw two solid games last week, but the Saratoga girls softball team could manage just a split in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

Franchi flipped a two-hit shutout to lead the Falcons to a 9-0 win over Gunn, but Saratoga lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to first-place to Fremont despite a one-hitter by Franchi.

Franchi struck out 13 and threw goose eggs at the Titans for six innings on Tuesday. She helped her own cause by ripping a double and two singles to drive in five runs for the Falcons. Suzanne Lessack also had three hits in the win.

Franchi struck out 12 and gave up just one hit, but the Falcons lost to the Firebirds. Fremont is now 8-0 in league play.

Falcons fall

The Saratoga baseball team played just one game last week, losing a 7-2 decision to Monta Vista in El Camino Division action.

Ryan Newberry ripped a pair of singles for the Falcons, who had just four hits as a team in the game.

Saratoga slipped to 7-5 in the division and to 10-13 for the year with the loss. The Falcons visit Lynbrook on May 6, 3:30 p.m., and host Homestead on May 8, noon.