Saratoga News

Sports

Johnson plays key role in Saratoga victory

By Dick Sparrer

It's a different role for Kent Johnson.

The 6-foot-3 junior is used to playing middle blocker or outside hitter for the Saratoga boys volleyball team. But setter?

Still, that's the role the Saratoga letterman has been asked to play since junior Mike Hutchins limped to the sidelines with an ankle injury. And to this point it's been so far, so good for Johnson and the Falcons.

Johnson was pressed into the role when Hutchins suffered his injury in the Willow Glen Tournament, and last week he stepped up with a pair of solid performances.

The best of them all came last Tuesday when Johnson came through with 42 assists, four blocks and four service aces in Saratoga's 25-11, 25-16,19-25, 25-13 league win over Santa Clara. The Falcons improved to 3-2, good for third place in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

Junior Mike Vetrone, a 6-foot-1 opposite hitter, starred for the Falcons with a team-high 18 kills. Junior Andy Capek, a 6-foot-4 middle blocker, supported with 10 kills and four blocks.

Ammar Kothari (5-foot-10 senior) chipped in with seven kills and an assist, and Jason Chun (5-foot-9 junior) had four kills and was praised for his passes.

Later in the week, Saratoga lost a tough non-league decision to Leland 25-21, 25-21, 25-27, 21-25, 15-13.

Vetrone led the Falcons with 11 kills and Johnson came through with 30 assists, four kills and four blocks. Outside hitter Doug Sabella (6-foot-1 junior) added six kills, three blocks and five service aces, and Capek had eight kills and three blocks.

The Falcons, 4-8 overall this season, were coming off of a tough showing in the Willow Glen Tournament held on St. Patrick's Day. Vetrone was named to the all-tournament team, but the Falcons could manage just one win in five matches.

Saratoga beat Alisal 25-21, 33-35, 15-13, but lost to Monterey 25-14, 25-21, to Willow Glen 25-17, 25-21 and to Serra twice, 25-12, 25-27, 15-9 and 25-21, 28-26.

The Falcons will try to maintain their winning ways in league play this week, but they have a tough slate ahead of them. Saratoga visits Mountain View on March 27 and Homestead on March 29 for a pair of 6:45 p.m. matches. Both teams are undefeated in SCVAL play.

This weekend Saratoga heads to Leland to participate in the Charger Classic.

Nielsen homers twice

The solid pitching of Myles Hornberger and Bo Nielsen and the timely hitting of Nielsen and Nick Dere sparked the Saratoga baseball team to a pair of El Camino Division victories last week.

Hornberger went the distance to flip a 6-hit shutout in Saratoga's 1-0 win over Lynbrook. The only run for the Falcons came on a solo homer by Nielsen in the bottom of the sixth inning. Hornberger boasts a 4-0 mound record this spring.

The Falcons, 3-2 in the division and 5-4 for the year, had opened the week with an exciting 8-4 win over Monta Vista in eight innings. Dere knocked in the run that proved the game winner in the top of the eighth.

Nielsen went the distance on the hill to get the win, pushing his record to 1-2. Nielsen also homered to lead a 12-hit Saratoga attack.

The Falcons scored a run in the top of the first, but the Matadors tied it with a run in the second. Saratoga took a 4-1 lead with three in the third, but once more the Mats tied it with three in the fifth. That's how it remained until Saratoga broke the game open with four runs in the eighth. Nielsen blanked the Mats in the bottom of the eighth to clinch the win.

The Falcons will face Santa Clara in a pair of games this week, visiting the Bruins on March 27, 7 p.m., before hosting Santa Clara on March 29, 3:30 p.m. Saratoga will face Gilroy in a non-league game on March 31, 10 a.m., at San Jose PAL Stadium and will host Terra Nova in another non-league test on April 2, 3:30 p.m.

Falcons run to wins

The Saratoga girls won all but two events and the boys won all but three events as the Falcons swamped Fremont and Homestead in a couple of double dual track and field meets last week.

The Fremont girls edged Homestead 52-50 in a close dual meet score, but neither team could get close to the Falcons. Saratoga whipped Fremont 84-21 and crushed Homestead 96-22.

Nicole Sabes won two individual events and competed on two winning relay teams to lead the Falcons to the victory. Sabes was first in the 800-meter run in 2:26.74 and sprinted to a win in the 100 in 13.217. She also teamed with Rachel Sabes, Sarah Guy and Maddie Block for wins in the 4x100 relay in 52.27 and the 4x400 relay in 4:12.13.

R. Sabes breezed to a win in the 400 in 1:02.39 and Guy ran to a win in the 200 in 27.38. Kierston Dolbec joined N. Sabes was a double winner for the Falcons. Dolbec won the triple jump at 32-4 and topped the high jump bar at 5-2 for a victory.

Katie Nast romped to a win in the 1,600 meters in 5:21.94, Karen Wai rambled to a first in the 3,200, Baylee Yates took the shot put at 28-6.74, Elaine Wong was a winner in the discus at 78-2 and Sonya Brenner soared to a victory in the long jump at 15-9.

The two wins helped the Saratoga girls improve to 4-0 in the El Camino Division.

The Saratoga boys also had an easy time against the Mustangs and Firebirds. The Falcons beat Fremont 88-38 and Homestead 80-46.

Alex Lagemann was the big winner for Saratoga, taking two individual events and running on two winning relay teams.

Lagemann sprinted to wins in the 100 in 11.49 and the 200 in 23.79. He joined forces with Kourash Agahdel, Luke Barton and Sina Ouraie for a win in the 4x100 relay in 45.56 and he teamed with Matt Pearce, Walter Lam and Kian Banks for a victory in the 4x400 relay in 3:41.06.

Lam and Gibran Meza were also double winners in individual events for the Falcons. Lam took the 110-meter high hurdles in 17.79 and the 300 intermediate hurdles in 46.71, and Meza won the long jump at 19-10 and the triple jump at 40-2.5.

Banks chipped in with a first in the 400 in 54.12. Brad Jacobs won the 1,600 in 4:36.78, Kunuk Shin took the 3,200 and Cullen Bowen was tops in the high jump at 5-6.

The Saratoga boys, like the girls, are 4-0 in the division.

Both Saratoga teams will be on their home track on March 29, 3 p.m., to play host to Wilcox.

Lai leads Falcons

Michael Lai put together solid back-to-back rounds to lead the Saratoga golf team to league wins over Milpitas and Lynbrook last week.

Lai shot even par at his home course at the Saratoga Country Club, firing a 34 to lead the Falcons to a 199-241 victory over Lynbrook. In an earlier match against the Vikings, Lai and teammate Stephen Hoffman had each carded 2-over par 32s to pace the Falcons to a 170-194 victory over the Vikings at the Deep Cliff Golf Course.

In other action last week, Lai's 1-over 37 at the Summitpointe Golf Course sparked Saratoga to a 202-270 victory over Milpitas.

The Falcons improved to 5-0-1 in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL.

Netters win two

Jeff Gast and John Lamble shared the No. 1 singles role last week and led the Saratoga tennis team to a pair of shutout victories.

Gast won 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 10-8 at No. 1 singles in Saratoga's 7-0 win over Homestead to open the week. Rohit D'Costa and Abhinav Dev cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 1 doubles.

Two days later, it was Lamble winning 6-3, 6-7 (11-13), 10-8 at No. 1 singles in the Falcons' 7-0 triumph over Mountain View. D'Costa and Dev teamed for a 6-1, 6-2 doubles victory.

With the two wins, the Falcons improved to 6-0 in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL and to 10-2 for the year.