The Saratoga baseball community was all smiles during a program to honor longtime athletic boosters Steve and Shelley Newberry. A plaque was mounted on the wall of the scorer's booth recognizing the two for their donation of time and money to the baseball program. Because of their efforts, the Falcons are playing on a brand-new diamond on the high school campus.

The fans weren't smiling for long, though--Los Altos saw to that.

The Eagles scored in each of the first five innings, including a five-run rally in the fourth, on the way to a 12-1 win over the Falcons.

Saratoga had only three hits in the game, one of them a run-scoring double by Eric Finnegan in the fourth.

As it that wasn't enough, the Falcons lost a couple of days later on their home diamond, falling 7-4 to Monta Vista. Scott Newberry had three hits for Saratoga and Scott Darchuk blasted a solo home run.

The Matadors jumped in front with a three-run outburst in the second, but Saratoga got one back in the third and rallied for three in the fourth to take a 4-3 lead. The Mats tied it with a run in the sixth, then scored three in the eighth to win it in extra innings.

The loss left the Falcons 0-4 in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. Saratoga was still chasing its first league win on the road at Santa Clara on Tuesday and the Falcons will be home against Lynbrook on March 23, 3:30 p.m.

Titans outlast Falcons

It almost seemed like the last team to hit would be the winner when the Gunn and Saratoga girls softball teams squared off last week. And that's just how things turned out.

The Titans and Falcons were going back and forth before winding up in a 10-10 tie after six innings. Saratoga was held scoreless in the top of the seventh, but Gunn scored in the bottom of the inning to give the Titans a thrilling 11-10 victory.

The loss left the Falcons 0-3 for the year. Saratoga had lost 7-3 to Willow Glen, even though Priscilla Chan singled and doubled, and the Falcons lost 16-8 to Saratoga, despite a single and a triple by Lisa Brenner.

Pienkos leads Falcons

Saratoga's Shaun Pienkos won medalist honors in three straight matches to lead the Falcons to three straight wins in the El Camino Division golf season.

Pienkos and teammate John Gragnola each fired a 4-over par 38 at the Saratoga Country Club to lead the Falcons to a 200-228 win over Monta Vista last week. The win left Saratoga 4-1 in division play.

Pienkos had come two strokes closer to par when he fired a 36 at the Saratoga Country Club to lead the Falcons to a 201-258 win over Lynbrook.

But the Saratoga standout was at his best on the road recently when he blistered the fairways at the Santa Clara Golf and Tennis Center for a 1-under par 35 to drive the Falcons past Santa Clara 198-205.

Vetrone stars

Mike Vetrone was the kill leader for the Saratoga boys volleyball team twice last week, but the Falcons dropped a pair of decisions to slip to 0-2 in the young De Anza Division season.

Vetrone hammered down nine kills for Saratoga in a 25-18, 25-17, 25-18 loss to Los Gatos, and he buried 11 kills in a tight 18-25, 25-23, 28-26, 23-25, 16-14 loss to Lynbrook. Vetrone also led the Falcon with five service aces against the Vikings.

Kent Johnson supported with 10 kills and led the team with three blocks. Peter Sclavos had nine kills and James Liao added three kills and four aces.

The Falcons came back last weekend to win one of four matches to finish ninth in the Harker Tournament. Saratoga opened with a 25-7, 25-6 win over Kennedy, but then lost 25-14, 23-25, 15-9 to Scotts Valley, 25-14, 25-20 to St. Francis and 25-16, 20-25, 15-9 to Westmont.

Nick McConnell strung together 19 straight points, including 14 aces, as a server in the win over Kennedy. Johnson and Mike Hutchins each had 21 kills in the tournament to lead the Falcons. Vetrone had 19 and Sclavos added 13.

The Falcons were to host Mountain View on Tuesday and will head to Wilcox on March 23 for league matches. Saratoga is back home on March 27 for a non-league match against Sacred Heart and on March 28 for a league match against Fremont. All matches begin at 6:45 p.m.

Swimmers fall

The boys and girls swimming teams at Saratoga lost to Monta Vista in De Anza Division competition last week.

The boys dropped a 119-56 decision to the Matadors despite a getting a pair of wins from Ben Hinshaw. Hinshaw was first in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:49.08 and added a win in the 500 free in 4:55.70.

Hayes Hyde was also a double winner, but the Saratoga girls lost 107-71 to the Mats. Hyde was tops in the 200 free in 1:58.41 and she won the 100 butterfly in 59.48. Lisa Chu added a win in the 100 breaststroke in 1:13.96, and she and Hyde were also members of the winning 200 medley relay team that posted a 1:48.28.

Wilcox outruns 'Toga

The Wilcox track and field teams outran Saratoga in both boys and girls action last week in the El Camino Division.

Brad Jacobs won the distance events for the Saratoga boys, but the Falcons lost 98-29 to the Chargers. Jacobs was first in the 1,600-meter run 5:04.2 and he took the 3,200 in 11:06.4.

Saratoga had a pair of double winners in the girls meet, but the Falcons lost 76-49 to Wilcox. Nicole Sabes doubled up with wins in the 400 in 1:02.4 and the 300 hurdles in 1:00.6, and Amanda Speedy raced to wins in the 1,600 in 5:52.8 and the 3,200 in 13:13.6.