The Sunnyvale Sun
Sports
Mats make run at playoffs, maybe title, too
By Mike Barnhart
When the Central Coast Section decided to expand its post-season baseball format for 2008, the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League made some changes too. And Monta Vista's Matadors, with visions of their first CCS berth since 2000, so far have made the best of a new opportunity.
The SCVAL, with six of the 39 automatic entries into the CCS's 48-team, three-division tournament, last January created a brand new playoff system for the De Anza Division to determine four of the qualifiers. No change was made to the El Camino schedule, but the league decided to reward the B division's top two finishers with automatic bids, instead of just the champion as was the previous rule.
Led by junior pitchers Justin Rahn and Chad Estes and senior shortstop Billy Guardino, the Matadors have been all over that second bylaws change. With a pair of wins over El Camino rival Fremont last week, Monta Vista improved its division record to 7-2 and tightened its grip on second place. Also, thanks to Lynbrook's 12-11 stunner of Santa Clara, Monta Vista entered spring break just one game out of first place. Fremont (3-4) was tied with Mountain View for third, followed by Saratoga (2-4) and Lynbrook (1-6).
"The top two teams go, but I'm trying to keep these guys focused on the goal of first place," coach Brian Sullivan said about the Matadors, who take an overall record of 14-7 into a non-league contest at Menlo-Atherton, April 19 at noon.
After the game at M-A, the Mats will play home-and-home sets with Mountain View and Saratoga and a non-league tilt against Menlo, prior to closing the El Camino slate with two games against first-place Santa Clara. They need three more wins to surpass the victory total of the Matadors' most recent winning record--16-10 in 2003.
"It could come down to those last two games with Santa Clara, but this team cannot overlook anybody or look ahead to anybody," Sullivan said, noting the Matadors' 20 straight games with at least one error since a flawless opener back in February.
"We're still trying to play consistent on defense," the coach continued. "Our offense has been good, and Justin and Chad both have been pitching well for us."
Rahn, who earned all-El Camino football honors as a quarterback last fall, has been hurling all-league stuff at opposing batters this season. Including his six-inning stint in the Mats' most recent game, a 10-1 win at Fremont on April 10, the 6-foot-4, 190-pound left-hander, entered this week with a 5-0 record, one save and an excellent earned run average of 1.18. He struck out 60 batters in 47 2/3 innings of work, while allowing just 32 hits, 17 walks and a hit batsman.
Rahn and the Matadors overcame four miscues in the field with a 10-hit offense, led by Estes' double, triple and two runs batted in. Dustin Brown knocked in a pair of runs with a single. Rahn and Ryan Walker both had two-hit games and Kearns scored two runs. Nick Tong and Guardino also had RBI hits in the romp.
Austin Ellis had two of Fremont's six hits off of Rahn and relief pitcher Denny Sin. Rahn struck out six Firebirds and walked two.
Estes, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound right-hander, improved his mound record to 3-2 with a 3-2, complete-game victory over Fremont at home on April 8. He gave up a run in the first and one in the seventh, but shut down the Firebirds in between.
Estes fell behind in the top of the first on consecutive doubles by Mike Appio and Tyler Tulowitzki, but Rahn got the run right back. He led off the bottom of the first with an opposite field home run over the left-field fence.
Monta Vista took the lead in the third on Dustin Brown's single and an RBI double by junior catcher Jason Kearns. An inning later, sophomore Kalon Zandbergs rapped an RBI double for the Mats. Damon Ball doubled off of Estes in the seventh and scored Fremont's final run after a single by Ellis and a throwing error.
Monta Vista's victories over Fremont (3-4, 6-13) avenged a 5-4, eight-inning loss on April 3. Ellis scored a pair of runs and banged out three of the Firebirds' eight hits, including the game-winner in the last of the eighth. The loss was the first of three in a row for the Matadors, including non-league decisions to Westmont and Los Altos, before they recovered with Estes' complete-game win against the Firebirds.
Estes' previous pitching start, a 13-4 triumph over Mountain View on April 1, also was a strong one. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, before finishing with a four-hit effort in 6 1/3 innings, before Sin (five saves) finished up.
Estes, the Matadors' leader in batting average (.456) and RBIs (24), helped himself at the plate against Mountain View with three hits, including a grand slam and five RBIs. Guardino (.443) added two hits, scored two runs and had three of his team-leading 21 stolen bases.
The Matadors went into their spring break with a team batting average of .314. Among the usual starters, Rahn (.375), Kearns (.349), Chris Cantwell (.346) and Brown (.306) joined Estes and Guardino with marks over .300. Cantwell's eight extra-base hits and four home runs were team highs.
While Monta Vista was dumping Mountain View, Fremont was scoring its first division win of the season, 9-3 at Lynbrook. Senior Rob Ramer pitched a complete game, scattering six hits, for the Firebirds.
Fremont, which suffered a 12-2, non-league setback at Branham on April 11, will try to get back in the win column during spring break against Saratoga. After playing on the Falcons' diamond on April 15, Fremont will host Saratoga, April 17, 3:30 p.m.
Homestead, Gatos vie
Homestead (5-5, 14-7 overall) and Cupertino (3-7, 7-10-1), among the eight De Anza Division teams battling for prime positions in De Anza's new series-based play-off format, also will be playing during the Fremont Union High School District's spring break.
Homestead, after getting swept two games by Wilcox (10-0) and Los Altos (6-6) in the past two weeks, needs to dig out a win against Los Gatos (6-4) this week to remain in the running for one of the top four positions in the De Anza play-offs. After playing at Los Gatos on April 16, the Mustangs will host the Wildcats two days later. Both games are slated to begin at 3:30 p.m.
After playing at Wilcox on April 15, Cupertino and the division leader will vie on the Pioneers' diamond, April 16, 3:30 p.m. Cupertino and Homestead will wrap up the regular season next with a home-and-home set, April 23 and April 25.
Another De Anza match-up this week pits Milpitas (4-6) and Gunn (1-9). Palo Alto (7-5) and Los Altos are idle this week.
The top four finishers after the 14-game round robin will be seeded in a championship bracket and will receive automatic bids into the CCS tournament, while the last four finishers will be seeded in a consolation bracket. Teams will play in best-of-three series during the week of April 28. Winners will play winners and losers will play losers in the following week. The round robin champion and the playoff winner, if different will be declared co-champions, but the playoff winner will earn the SCVAL's top seed in the CCS event.
After starting De Anza play 5-1, Homestead dropped tough nods to Wilcox, 4-2 and 3-0, then suffered twin defeats to Los Altos last week, 1-0 and 9-0.
Senior Evan Marshall pitched a complete-game, 3-hitter at Los Altos on April 9, but the Mustangs managed just three hits themselves and could not score against the Los Altos pitcher. The Eagles pushed across the game's only run in the bottom of the third.
Cupertino split a series with Gunn last week, falling 4-3 on the road and winning 9-8 at home. Both games were won on the last at-bat.
Seniors Nick Scibetta and Blake Warren both cracked home runs in Cupertino's loss at Gunn. Troy Milton went deep for the Pioneers in the 9-8 win, but teammate Jordan Stiver was the bit hitting standout with three hits, including two doubles and five RBIs.
Stiver knocked in two more runs with two more hits the next day, April 12, in a 4-1, non-league win at Harbor of Santa Cruz. Sophomore Evan Nakagawa was the winning pitcher.