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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Dirt Ball: Pioneer's Shishir Ghia is safe at first in action last week against Del Mar. The Mustangs knocked off the Dons 6-4 in the Pioneer Classic.
Rams win Silver Creek Classic
Bells claim title at Pioneer tourney
By Dick Sparrer
There are still two remaining in the league season, so it's too soon to be bragging about baseball championships at Willow Glen High School.
Or is it.
Sure, the Rams are in the running for the title in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, but they're already champions this spring.
Willow Glen won the title in the Silver Creek Classic, beating host Silver Creek 8-4 last Saturday at San Jose PAL Stadium.
Will Rideau doubled twice and singled to drive in a couple of runs to lead the Rams to the title-clinching win over the Raiders.
David Macchi chipped in with three hits in the win and Jared Jeffrey ripped a pair of singles.
Nate McDonald was the winning pitcher, running his record to 2-0, as the Rams held the Raiders to just four hits.
The clubs each started fast, scoring three runs apiece in the first inning.
Silver Creek scored a run in the fourth to lead 4-3, but the Rams answered with three in the bottom of the fourth and added two insurance runs in the sixth.
The Rams are now 15-6 for the year after beating Mount Pleasant, Andrew Hill and Yerba Buena last week before clinching the tournament championship with the win over the Raiders.
W. Rideau, Alvin Rideau and Daniel Rice each singled and doubled to lead the Rams to a 15-8 win over Mount Pleasant. Macchi knocked in three runs in the win and Gabe Candelaria drove home a pair. McDonald was the winning pitcher for WG.
Jeffrey and Ryan Frazier each belted home runs to pace the Rams to a 7-0 win over Andrew Hill. Candelaria, Macchi and A. Rideau each had two hits in the win and Pete Watts and Josh Weaver each doubled. Jeffrey and Watts knocked in two runs apiece.
Bob Hobbs was the winning pitcher, improving his mound record to 6-1.
Candelaria had four hits and knocked in two runs and Watts homered and drove home four to spark the Rams to a 16-5 win over Yerba Buena. Macchi had three hits and drove in five runs.
Matt Durkin picked up the mound win, improving his record to 6-1.
Willow Glen returns to league play this week. The Rams were to take a 10-3 record up against Lincoln on Monday and will visit Hill on May 3 and San Jose on May 5 in a couple of 3:30 p.m. games.
Bells are Classic champs
Bellarmine outslugged Valley Christian 17-10 last Saturday at San Jose City College to clinch the title in the Pioneer Classic.
Kevin Frandsen had four hits, including a double, to knock in five runs for the Bells in the title game. Chris Morgan doubled and singled twice to drive home four.
Nate Sutton and James Holder chipped in with two hits apiece in the win.
The Bells, 24-5 for the year, opened the week with a 7-2 win over Santa Teresa. Frandsen homered and singled twice to drive in four runs in the win. Darren Vieira doubled and tripled, Ben Shrader singled and doubled and Sutton had two hits.
Holder was the winning pitcher for the Bells, stretching his season record to 8-0.
Holder crushed a three-run homer over the left field fence to lead the Bells to a 5-1 win over Pioneer in the semifinals. He knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly to left later in the game.
Andrew Storp tossed three-plus innings to pick up the win for Bellarmine. The sophomore southpaw pushed his record to 4-0.
Kevin Mack came on in relief to throw three solid innings. The senior left hander struck out four and gave up just one hit, a sixth-inning single by Kurt Okenquist.
Valley Christian beat Hollister 13-3 to open the week and came back with a 10-1 win over Gunn to move into the finals against Bellarmine.
Chris Houston was the winning pitcher against the Haybalers. The senior right hander pushed his mound record to 6-2.
Casey Neale and Eddie Espinoza each homered for Valley in the win over the Titans.
The Mustangs had opened the week with a 6-4 win over Del Mar.
Pioneer jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on a solo homer by Sean Sarsfield, but the Dons rallied for four in the second.
Pioneer came back to tie it, though, then scored two runs in the ninth to win 6-4 in extra innings.
Sophomore southpaw Mitch Balli picked up the win in relief. Brian Davis doubled and homered for the Mustangs and Sean Hallihan singled and doubled. Brian Roy and Matt Palacios added singles in the win.
The Mustangs battled Gunn in the third-place game on Saturday but dropped a 3-0 decision to the Titans. Singles by Davis, Mack and Brian Gilbert were the only hits Pioneer could manage in the game.
Pioneer split a pair of games with Santa Teresa and Leigh in the first weekend of the tournament.
A bases-loaded double by Palacios pushed across three runs and helped Pioneer open the tourney with a 12-8 win over Santa Teresa. Palacios finished the day with a pair of hits and Shishir Ghia was three-for-four for the Mustangs in the win.
The Mustangs dropped a tough 15-12 decision to Leigh a game later.
Pioneer will get back to league play this week. The Mustangs, who open the week with a nonleague game at Del Mar on May 2, host Mt. Pleasant on May 3 and Overfelt on May 5 in a couple of 3:30 p.m. games.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
