Jackman brought out the spikes, pulled on the leather glove and took up his bat for another season of Westmont baseball, and he got off a solid start in a league game against Oak Grove last week.

Jackman was 2 for 3 with a walk to lead the Warriors offensively, but they dropped an 11-1 decision to the Eagles in their March 1 opener in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

Steven Brady drove in Corey Gazay for the only Warrior run of the game. Doug Molseed and Chris Young also had hits in the loss, and Brady and Jackman also each stole a base each for the Warriors.

On Feb. 21, Westmont downed Monta Vista 6-3 in a preseason contest. Westmont went ahead 1-0 in the second, but gave three runs in the top of the fourth.

The Warriors answered right back, though, scoring four in the bottom half of the fourth, which proved enough for the win. Westmont scored an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth.

Brady carried the big bat for the Warriors, going 3 for 3 with two doubles and two runs scored in the win. Jackman singled, drove in a run and scored two runs. Tyler Gullickson singled in two and scored once. Matt Medeiros also drove a run in and scored once and Kyle Belshaw knocked in a run.

Belshaw was the winning pitched for Westmont. He faced 17 batters, allowed only four hits and three runs and struck out two. Gullickson came on in relief and faced just nine hitters. He allowed two hits and a walk and had one strikeout. Kyle McDonald got the save, facing three batters and giving up one hit and striking out one.

The day before, Westmont dropped one 6-0 to San Benito from Hollister after holding the Haybalers scoreless for the first four innings. Hollister only allowed Westmont three hits. Gullickson and Medeiros each singled, and Jackman blasted a triple for the only other hit for the Warriors.

Westmont's first big win of the season came 8-0 against Prospect on Feb. 18. Molseed was all but unstoppable in the contest, going 3 for 4 with three doubles. Molseed also drove in three of Wesmont's eight runs and he scored twice.

Jackman was in usual form, going 2 for 3 with an RBI. He also scored three times and reached once on balls. Brady was 2 for 3 with one knocked in. Kelly Peterson went 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored. Corey Gazay also had a hit and a run scored.

Brady also had two stolen bases, while Belshaw, Gazay, Jackman, Medeiros and Molseed each had one for Westmont's seven stolen bases in the game.

Kyle McDonald spent the majority of the game on the mound, facing 20 of the 23 batters. McDonald only allowed two hits while striking out nine. McDonald picked up his first win so far in the season. Dan Scanlan came in for the final three batters and retired all three, two of them on strikes.

Westmont is now 2-2 overall with an 0-1 record in league. The Warriors will travel to Branham on March 8 for a 3:30 p.m. start and then host Branham on March 10 at 3:30 p.m.

Panthers 3rd in tourney

After opening the season with the loss to Westmont, Prospect has battled back to win three of five games. The Panthers nailed a third-place finish in the Milpitas Showdown Classic and posted a win over Silver Creek in their BVAL Santa Teresa Division opener.

Curtis Vanwaardenberg had a big game against the Raiders in the division opener last week. Vanwaardenberg blasted two home runs to lead a 12-hit attack for the Panthers, and he also went five innings on the hill to pick up the mound win. Of the 15 outs he recorded in his stint, 12 came via strikeouts. The game was cut short after five frames.

The clubs matched three runs each in the first inning, but the Panthers put the game on ice when they rallied for eight in the third.

Prospect avenged a 2-0 loss to Mission San Jose with a 2-1 win over MSJ in the third-place game at the Milpitas Showdown.

Nic Nicholas was 3 for 4 and Chris Perez nailed the mound win as the Panthers held the Renegades to just two hits.

Prospect rolled to a 10-1 win over Watsonville in the tournament. Chris Cucchiara was the winning pitcher and Justin Thomas singled and doubled to knock in three runs.

The Panthers opened the tourney with the 2-0 loss to Mission San Jose. Cucchiara had two hits for Prospect.

In their only other game of the spring, the Panthers lost 8-7 to Piedmont Hills. David Morgan had three hits to drive in two runs for Prospect.

Falcons lose two

The season is off to a slow start for the Saratoga baseball team. The Falcons lost 18-4 to Harbor, then dropped a 6-1 nod to Valley Christian.

Saratoga hopes to get on the winning track this week when, weather permitting, the Falcons visit Lynbrook on March 9, 3:30 p.m., to open play in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.