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Safe on Base: Willow Glen's Mike DeBono (14) slides in safely as he scores on a passed ball in last week's 4-2 win over Pioneer. Pitcher Mitch Balli covers home for the Mustangs.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Durkin, Hobbs toss Rams to wins
Willow Glen back in 1st place alone
By Dick Sparrer
Gary Rose knew going into the season that he had a pretty good one-two pitching punch in Matt Durkin and Bobby Hobbs.
But the Willow Glen coach probably didn't even know how powerful that punch was until last week when Durkin and Hobbs put together back-to-back masterpieces to get the Rams back into sole ownership of first place in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
Durkin opened the week by tossing a two-hit shutout at Mount Pleasant in a thrilling 1-0 Willow Glen victory, and Hobbs came back with a six-hitter in an important 4-2 win over Pioneer that jumped the Rams back up atop the division standings.
Willow Glen capped the week with a 6-4 win over Silver Creek with Durkin coming on in relief of Nathan McDonald to pick up a save.
The three wins helped the Rams improve to 8-1 in the Santa Teresa Division, putting them a game up on second-place Piedmont Hills (7-2) and two up on Pioneer (6-3).
Durkin set the tone of the week with a masterful performance in the 1-0 win over the Cardinals. The hard-throwing right hander struck out 10 and walked just one in the win, evening his season record at 2-2.
Senior left fielder Luis Pacheco singled and doubled, and senior third baseman Daniel Rice had two hits in the win for the Rams.
Willow Glen scored the game's only run in the fifth run, and Durkin made that stand up for the win.
Not to be outdone, Hobbs came back with a gem of his own on Wednesday. The big right hander struck out 16 and walked none as he limited Pioneer to just seven hits in the 4-2 win.
This game was a big one for the Rams. The two clubs entered the game sharing first place in the division with matching 6-1 records, and the Mustangs took the early lead with a couple of runs in the first.
Brian Therault singled and raced to third on a double by Brian Gilbert. Therault scored on a wild pitch before Thomas Ash singled up the middle to knock in Gilbert.
But the Rams came fighting back in the third.
Jared Jeffrey singled up the middle and, an out later, Scott Wallberg reached on an error. Runners ended up at the corners when Gabe Candelaria bounced into a force out at second. But with two outs, Jeffrey rambled home on a passed ball and Pacheco followed with a run-scoring single up the middle, and the game was tied 2-2.
Willow Glen broke the tie with two more in the fifth. Mike DeBono doubled up the gap in left-center and Wallberg singled him to third. Candelaria broke the tie with a sacrifice fly to center to drive in DeBono, and Wallberg raced home on a two-out double by Pete Watts.
That was all Hobbs needed. He struck out nine over the final three innings to nail down the win. But it actually wasn't all that easy.
Hobbs struck out the side in the fifth, but ran into a jam in the sixth. After getting the first hitter on a fly ball to right, he struck out the next three ... that's right--three. On the second and third strikeouts, the ball got away from the catcher, and Pioneer put a couple of runners on base. Hobbs got the next hitter to ground out softly to third to get out of trouble.
Then the big senior fanned the top three hitters in the Pioneer lineup to close out the game and nail down the win, running his record to 4-0.
Pacheco had two hits in the win and Watts and DeBono each doubled. Alvin Rideau, Jeffrey and Wallberg also had singles in the win.
Willow Glen wrapped up the week with a 6-4 win over Silver Creek.
McDonald was the winning pitcher, pushing his mound mark to 3-1, and Durkin came on to get his second save of the year.
Candelaria and Rice each singled and doubled to lead an 11-hit attack for the Rams. Rideau and DeBono added two hits apiece, Wallberg doubled home a pair of runs and Watts ripped a double.
The Rams took the early lead with a run in the third, then broke the game open with five in the fourth.
But the Raiders fought back with four in the fifth to make a game of it. Still, the Rams were able to hang on for the win.
The Rams, now 8-1 in league play and 10-4 for the year, visit Piedmont Hills for a big game on April 4, 3:30 p.m., before hosting Independence on April 6, 3:30 p.m.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
