Saratoga News
Sports
Photograph by Dave Stephenson
Saratoga catcher Jeff Roberts put the tag on Fremont's Tyler Tulowitzski for an out at the plate in a league game earlier this year. The Falcons lost a tough 3-2 nod to the Firebirds in the North Monterey County Easter Tournament.
Panthers lose to Vikes in Lions tourney
By Kevin Sparrer
David Morgan and Justin Thomas did their part, but the Prospect High School baseball team came up short in a 6-4 loss to Lynbrook in the Cupertino Lions Baseball Tournament last week.
Morgan and Thomas had two hits apiece but the rest of the Panthers could combine for just four more in the loss to the Vikings.
The Panthers fell behind early, but made a comeback in the bottom half of the fourth to take the lead, 4-3. Lynbrook, though, scored three more runs in the last two innings and stole the win out of Prospect's hands.
Prospect returns to play in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League this week when the Panthers host Del Mar on April 21 for a 3:30 p.m. start. The clubs played to a 10-10 tie the first time they met this season.
Carl Boles' Prospect squad, 3-6-1 in division play and 5-11-1 for the year, will be on the road to face Silver Creek for a league game on April 26, 3:30 p.m.
Morgan is hitting .360 to lead the bat attack for the Panthers and Matt Lamb and Jonathon Snyder are each hitting at a .308 clip. Curtis Vanwaardenberg is hitting .289 with a couple of homers and leads the club with eight runs-batted-in. Thomas is hitting .268 and Nick Nichols is hitting .240 with a couple of home runs and six RBIs.
Westmont, meanwhile, gets back into action in the BVAL's Mt. Hamilton Division this week. The Warriors, 1-10 in the division and 3-11 for the year, will visit Leigh on April 19 and then host the Longhorns on April 21 in a couple of 3:30 p.m. games. John Salberg's Westmont crew will visit Pioneer on April 24, 3:30 p.m.
Steven Brady is pacing the Warriors this season with a .381 batting average and Ryan Kanzaki is hitting .300. D.J. Jackson boasts a .290 average and has knocked in a team-high seven runs. Brady and Matt Medeiros (.250) have driven in six runs apiece and Brady tops the club with seven stolen bases. Jackman, Medeiros and Kyle Belshaw have each belted home runs. Kelly Peterson is contributing with a .273 average.
Belshaw heads up the mound staff with a 3.45 earned run average.
Saratoga, meanwhile, lost to Fremont last week in the third-place game at the North Monterey County Easter Tournament. The Falcons, who opened the tourney with a win over Robert Louis Stevenson, dropped a tough 3-2 nod to Fremont in the final game.
The Firebirds scored a run in the top of the first to take the early lead, but the Falcons rallied for two in the home half of the inning to go up 2-1. That's how it remained until Fremont scored a run in the fifth to tie it and scored again in the sixth to take a 3-2 lead.
Scott Darchuk led the Falcons with two hits. Saratoga had only four hits in the game.
The Falcons had lost a 2-1 heartbreaker to Carlmont in pool play. The Falcons had jumped in front with a run in the second, but the Scots scored two in the third and made the runs stand up for the win. Alex Lagemann doubled to lead a four-hit attack for Saratoga.
Saratoga also lost 5-1 to North Monterey County. The clubs matched runs in the first, but that was all the Falcons could manage. North Monterey rallied for two in the fourth and two more in the fifth.
The Falcons, 3-12 for the year and 1-7 in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, return to league play this week following spring break. Saratoga was to face Homestead on April 17 and will visit Los Altos on April 20, 3:30 p.m.
Pieknos leads Falcons
Shaun Pienkos fired a 1-over par 35 at the Saratoga Country Club to lead the Saratoga golf team to wins over Monta Vista and Lynbrook last week. The Falcons finished with a low 189 strokes. Monta Vista was second at 225 and Lynbrook came in at 239.
The two wins helped the Falcons improve to 8-1 in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
The Prospect golf team won a couple of matches in a row in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL with wins over Andrew Hill on March 29 and James Lick on April 5. Prospect defeated Hill 308-314 at Coyote Creek with Wes Lancaster shooting the best round of the day with a 44. Prospect took the win from Lick because the Comets were unable to finish the round. Greg MacMillan of the Panthers had the day's best round with a 43 at Spring Valley.
The Panthers were to face Del Mar at Los Lagos on April 18 at 3 p.m. and then meet again against Del Mar on April 19 at Deep Cliff.
Westmont's golf team has been making some birdies. The Warriors defeated Branham two matches in a row at Los Lagos on April 6 and Coyote Creek on April 3 where they played the Valley Course in the Mount Hamilton Division of the BVAL. Westmont won by only three strokes at Los Lagos 193-196, bringing its record to 3-7. Its win at Coyote Creek was as close as five strokes with Westmont finishing 207-212.
Boys volleyball
Westmont's boys volleyball team defeated Gunderson in three straight games on April 7, 25-15, 25-15, 15-15, with Jon Ng-Parish leading in kills for the Warriors with 19. Westmont improved its record to 6-6 in the Mt. Hamilton Division.
But the Warriors struggled against Willow Glen on April 6, dropping the match 25-22, 16-25, 20-25, 25-15, 15-11 6. Ng-Parish led the Warriors again with 19 kills in the loss.
Earlier that week, the Warriors dropped a match to Branham 19-25, 25-20, 28-26, 18-25, 15-11. Ng-Parish led the Warrior effort with 24 kills in then loss.
Westmont was to travel to Prospect on April 18 before going to Pioneer to face the Mustangs on April 25 at 6 p.m.
The Prospect boys dropped its last three matches in the Mt. Hamilton Division, most recently to Leigh on April 7. The Panthers went down in three straight 25-11, 25-11, 25-9 at the home of the Longhorns. Patrick Avila led in kills for the Panthers with four. Prospect also lost to Oak Grove on April 6 at home, 25-21, 25-20, 25-18. Avila and Jeff Sen both led in kills with eight each. Prospect dropped a match to first-place Leland on April 4, 25-17, 25-20, 25-18. Avila led in kills for the Panthers again with nine.
Prospect was to host Westmont on April 18 at 6 p.m. before traveling to Branham on April 20 for another 6 p.m. start.
