Saratoga News
Sports
West Valley comes up a game short of playing for a state berth
By Dick Sparrer
It was just last year when Carlos Hernandez was blazing fast balls past high school batters to lead Santa Clara into the finals of the Central Coast Section Division I tournament against Mitty.
Almost a year to the day, he's doing the same thing. It's just that now the hard-throwing southpaw is wearing a West Valley College uniform and he's throwing the pill past community college batters in the Northern California Regional playoffs.
He did it well enough last weekend to pick up the win when the Vikings rolled to a 5-3 win over Chabot in the second round of the NorCal regionals.
But the joy of the victory was short-lived for the Vikings. They lost 7-4 to Sierra College later in the day to see their season come to an end just a game shy from playing for a berth in the state tournament.
What a season it was for the Vikings, though. They posted a solid 36-10 record that included three wins in the NorCal playoffs and a 21-4 record in a championship campaign in the South Division of the Coast Conference.
The Coast champs opened the NorCal playoffs against Feather River and swept the Golden Eagles in two games at West Valley, 4-3 and 7-6.
Neither win came easy for the Vikings, especially in the second game when they went 11 innings before clinching the win and a spot in the tournament's second round.
David Masinter (a graduate of Live Oak) came on in a relief role to pick up the mound win, pushing his season record to 3-2. Jeff Stream (Wilcox) finished up to get the save.
Adam Lara (Leland) homered and singled to drive in three runs in the win and David Newton (Live Oak) also singled and homered. Eric Thames (Bellarmine) doubled and singled twice and Ben Hemeon (Gilroy) had two hits.
The Vikes scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to win the first game 4-3. David Berner (Santa Clara) was the winning pitcher, stretching his record to 8-3. Newton picked up the save.
Hemeon doubled and singled twice in the win and Doug Porras (Live Oak) singled and doubled to drive in a pair of runs. Thames doubled and Brandon Shimada (Wilcox) added two hits.
West Valley opened the second round of the NorCal playoffs at home against Santa Rosa and dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to the Bearcubs.
Santa Rosa rallied for three runs in the second to take an early lead, but the Vikings battled back. Hemeon clubbed a two-run homer in the sixth, and Valley added another run in the seventh to tie it. But the 'Cubs scored an unanswered run in the top of the ninth to clinch the win.
Jason Hershfield (Santa Teresa) singled and doubled in the game for the Vikings. David Newton (Live Oak) was tagged with his first mound loss of the year, leaving him with an 8-1 record.
Hernandez (Santa Clara) was the winner in the 5-3 win over Chabot on Saturday and Newton came on late to pick up the save. Newton also drove in three runs to lead the offense.
Championship stats
It was quite a freshman year for Hernandez, who rolled up 77 strikeouts in 71 1/3 innings in the regular season. He took a low 1.64 earned run average into the postseason.
Berner nailed a solid 7-3 pitching mark for the Vikings and led the staff with 84 K's. He had a 2.55 ERA.
Newton struck out 40 in 32 2/3 innings in the regular season and boasted a 3.03 ERA.
Thames was the leader at the plate for the Vikings, leading the club in most offensive categories. He had team-high totals in runs scored (49), hits (54), runs-batted-in (33), doubles (11), triples (5), home runs (8) and walks (31). He finished the regular season with a .372 batting average.
Hemeon was the average leader among the regulars, hitting at a .412 clip. Newton hit .348; Brian Wendt (Leigh) hit .345 with 41 hits, 28 RBIs, nine doubles and 10 stolen bases; Andrew Cummins (Live Oak) hit .333; Hershfield hit .329 with 50 hits, 32 RBIs and 11 doubles; Chase Perez (Live Oak) hit .327; Lara hit .320 with 39 hits 27 RBIs and 10 doubles; Teddy Saenz (Leland) hit .319 with 45 hits; Matt Barrera (Del Mar) hit .310; and Porras hit .309.
Dwayne Haakma (Pioneer), Ricky Meinhold (Westmont) and Anthony Trovato (Leland) were among the other contributors on the squad.
All-Coast Conference
Veteran head coach Mike Perez was selected as the Coast Conference South coach of the year after a sensational performance in his 16th year as the head man at West Valley.
Earning all-conference first team honors for the Vikings were Hernandez, pitcher; Newton, relief pitcher; Hershfield, infield; and Thames, outfield.
Grabbing all-conference second team spots were Berber, pitcher; Lara, first base; Wendt and Saenz, infield; Stream, utility; and Hemeon, designated hitter. Catchers Perez and Shimada won all-conference honorable mention consideration.
San José City College players on the all-conference second team roster were pitcher Cheyne Hann, relief pitcher Kyle Bennett and outfielder Aaron Cervantes.
Leland's Kyle Woodruff had a sensational spring season at the College of San Mateo and was honored for his efforts on the Coast Conference North Division all-conference team. Woodruff was selected as the Pitcher of the Year in the conference after posting an 11-0 season record with a 3.03 earned run average. The freshman hurler started 13 games on the hill, and completed four of them. He also picked up a save. He struck out 76 in 95 innings of work.
De Anza players joining Woodruff on the all-conference squad include Maikel Hurtado, first team relief pitcher; Cody Guarnera, first team catcher; David Abraham, first team infielder; Zach Samuels, first team utility; Sean Teeters, second team first baseman; Travis Lazar, second team infielder; and Robert Sedin, second team outfielder.
Dedicated to Michael
The West Valley College baseball team had dedicated the season to a fallen teammate, Michael De Jesus. The 18-year-old college student and baseball player from Milpitas was just beginning what appeared to be a promising collegiate career with the Vikings when he was killed last fall in a senseless shooting.
Michael's summer league traveling team, the San Jose Lightning, will hold a special event on June 2 at San Jose Municipal Stadium as a fundraiser for Michael's family.
The San Jose Lightning will play Bay Area Baseball in an exhibition game on "A Night to Remember: A Tribute to Michael De Jesus." Gates open at 5:30 p.m. For more information, visit remembermdj27.tripod.com/index.html.
