In three games this spring, Franchi has been touched for just three runs. But that's only translated to two Saratoga victories, despite strong pitching by the Falcon right hander.

Franchi tossed Saratoga to a 3-1 win over Pioneer in a non-league game, but the Falcons lost 2-1 to Aptos a game later.

Saratoga came back with a 2-0 win over St. Ignatius last weekend, though, on the strength of a 2-hit shutout by Franchi. The victory came in the opening round of the Live Oak Circle of Champions tournament played at the Twin Creeks Sports Complex in Sunnyvale.

Franchi blanked the Wildcats over seven innings, striking out 15 along the way, and Saratoga scored single runs in the fourth and sixth to win it. One of the runs came on a single by Franchi. She had two hits in the win.

Franchi tossed a complete game 4-hitter and fanned nine, but two runs in the top of the first proved all Aptos needed for a 2-1 non-league win. The Falcons answered with a run in the bottom of the first, but that was all they could manage on the day.

Franchi singled and doubled to account for both of the Saratoga hits in the game.

The Falcons were to take their 2-1 season record up against Lynbrook on March 14 and Los Gatos on March 15 in a couple of non-league game before returning to Twin Creeks on March 19 to continue play in the Circle of Champions tourney.

Saratoga will open play in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League on March 23, 3:30 p.m., at Palo Alto.

Two baseball losses

It's been rough in the early going for the Saratoga baseball team, and things got even rougher when the Falcons opened El Camino Division play last week.

The Falcons dropped a 5-3 decision to Gunn to open the league season, then lost 14-4 to Homestead to slip to 0-2 in the division and to 0-5 for the season.

Homestead improved to 3-0 in El Camino Division play with the victory, and the Mustangs took command of the game early. Saratoga had scored two runs in the top of the first, but the Mustangs unloaded for 10 runs in the home half of the frame and coasted from there to the win.

The Falcons got off to a good start against Gunn in the league season opener with single runs in each of the first three innings. But Saratoga's 3-0 lead disappeared in the fourth when the Titans put three runs on the board. Gunn added two in the home half of the sixth and blanked the Falcons in the seventh to claim the 5-3 victory.

The Falcons will try to break into the win column this week when they play three games. Saratoga was to visit Lynbrook on March 15 for a league game, and they'll host the Vikings on March 17 at 3:30 p.m. The Falcons will then face Cupertino in a non-league game on March 19, 3:30 p.m. The Pioneers figure to be a contender in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL this spring.

Swimmer swamped

The Saratoga swimming and diving teams battled Los Altos last week, but the Eagles dominated each division on the way to taking the team wins.

The Saratoga boys lost just 95-88 to the Eagles, but the Falcons couldn't manage any individual victories in the meet.

It was the same story for the Saratoga girls. They lost 113-67 on the day and Los Altos won every individual event and all three relays.

Wallace leads spikers

Danny Wallace may be fresh off the basketball court, but the senior managed to lead the Saratoga boys volleyball team in kills in a non-league match against Westmont last week. Despite Wallace's team-high 11 kills, though, the Falcons lost 24-26, 25-18, 25-22, 25-9 to the Warriors.

It was the first match of the spring season for the Falcons. The Warriors improved to 5-0 with the win.

Pienkos, Gragnola star

The Saratoga golf team was on the road for a pair of matches last week and the Falcons were able to bring home a couple of wins despite the unfamiliar conditions.

In Lynbrook's previous outing at Deep Cliff, Andrew Chow shot 30 and shared medallist honors with

Saratoga's John Gragnola fired a 30 to share medalist honors with Lynbrook's Andrew Chow to lead the Falcons to a 168-175 win over the Vikings at the Deep Cliff Golf Course.

Later in the week, Sean Pienkos carded a one-over par 37 to take the medalist spot for Saratoga in a 198-219 win over Santa Clara at the Santa Clara Golf and Tennis Club.

The Falcons improved to 3-0 for the year with the two victories.