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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Homeward Bound: Gabe Candelaria races home with a run for the Rams.
Rams going for baseball title
Wiedlin tosses Panthers to win
By Dick Sparrers
When a championship is on the line, most coaches would rather play for it than have another team determine their fate. The Willow Glen baseball team will have that chance this week.
The Rams close out the season in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League this week, and if they win two games they can do nothing worse than tie for the division championship.
Willow Glen will visit Independence on May 10 and James Lick on May 12 in a couple of 3:30 p.m. games, and the Rams need wins in each of the two games to secure at least a title tie.
Should the Rams win two and 76ers lose two, Willow Glen could win the championship outright. But Willow Glen isn't looking for help quite yet--first the Rams have some business of their own to attend to.
Independence heads into the final week of the season with a 13-3 league record. Willow Glen is second at 12-4 with Andrew Hill a close third at 12-5. All three clubs are mathematically alive in the title chase.
Willow Glen crushed Lincoln 14-4 and whipped San Jose Academy 15-2 in a couple of quick five-inning wins last week, but it was a tough 2-1 loss to Hill that dropped the Rams out of a first-place tie with the 76ers.
Hill and Willow Glen shared second, but only for a day. The Falcons were upset 7-6 by Lick last Friday to drop to third place.
But Hill had dealt Willow Glen a severe blow on Wednesday. Junior hurler Matt Durkin tossed a two-hitter and Gabe Candelaria ripped two hits, but the Rams dropped a 2-1 nod to the Falcons.
Hill scored single runs in the first and second, and the Rams could answer with just a single run in the sixth.
Scoring runs was not a problem for the Rams in their other two games last week.
Candelaria and Will Rideau had three hits apiece and Bob Hobbs doubled and knocked in three runs in a lopsided 15-2 win over San Jose. Nate McDonald was the winning pitcher, pushing his season record to 3-0.
The Rams, 17-7 for the year, had opened the week with the 14-4 win over Lincoln. Pete Watts pounded a three-run homer for WG and Hobbs tossed a two-hitter for the win, pushing his mound mark to 7-1.
Jared Jeffrey and Josh Weaver each doubled home a couple of runs, and Alvin Rideau and David Macchi each doubled. Candelaria and Scott Wallberg each tripled for the Rams.
Panthers split
The Presentation girls softball team split a pair of one-run decisions last week, losing a 3-2 heartbreaker to Santa Teresa before pulling out a 2-1 thriller over Piedmont Hills.
The Panthers, 7-6 in the Mount Hamilton Division and 23-11 for the year, scored a couple of runs in the second and Sara Wiedlin made them stand up for a 2-1 win over the Pirates.
Wiedlin went the distance to toss a three-hitter, striking out 15 along the way. She was touched for a single run in the fifth, but that was all she would allow in the 2-1 win.
Adriana St. Cin singled and tripled to account for two of her club's five hits in the game.
Jana Arde had flipped a seven-hitter earlier in the week, but the Panthers dropped a tough 3-2 nod to the Saints.
Presentation broke open a scoreless tie with two runs in the top of the sixth, but the Saints matched the two in the home half of the sixth and won it with a run in the seventh.
The Willow Glen girls, meanwhile, lost twice to slip to 2-11 in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL.
Freshman catcher Angie Keeth and senior first sacker Kelly McCloskey each doubled, but the Rams lost a 4-1 decision to Independence.
The Rams, who had just four hits in the game, took an early lead with a run in the first, but the 76ers rallied for two in the third to take the lead and added insurance runs in the fifth and sixth.
Freshman hurler Janelle Calderon was stuck with a tough pitching loss when the Rams dropped an 8-3 decision to Valley Christian.
The Warriors rallied for three in the second and five in the fourth to win it. Willow Glen picked up two in the sixth and one in the seventh in a valiant comeback bid, but the Rams fell short.
Rams win two
Guy Beahm and Richard Stayskal led the Willow Glen boys volleyball team to back-to-back Mount Hamilton Division victories last week.
Beahm and Stayskal hammered down eight kills apiece to lead the Rams to a 15-10, 15-3, 15-9 win over Oak Grove to open the week, and Stayskal was the kill leader in a 15-3, 15-4, 15-13 win over San Jose Academy later in the week.
The Rams improved to 8-2 in the division and to 20-6 for the year with the two wins. They will open the Central Coast Section playoffs at Serra on May 11, 7 p.m.
Staton fifth
Matt Staton carded a seven-over-par 78 at the Santa Teresa Golf Course to tie for fifth at the Blossom Valley Athletic League tournament.
Staton finished just four strokes behind the leader, Eric Larson of Westmont, who tied for first with a 74 then won the title on the first hole of a playoff. Two golfers finished with 77s and Staton tied for fifth with a golfer from Santa Teresa High.
Staton's effort earned him a place in the Central Coast Section tournament.
Lyons, Phan win
Juniors Chris Lyons and Minh Phan of Willow Glen have opened the Santa Teresa Division tennis tournament with a couple of doubles wins to move into the league championship round.
Lyons and Phan beat a Prospect duo 6-1, 6-0 in the first round, then knocked off a Lincoln twosome 6-3, 6-7, 7-2 to advance to the finals.
Singles star Nick Burggraff, another junior, opened singles play with a 6-1, 7-5 win over a Silver Creek foe, but then lost 6-3, 6-0 to a Valley Christian to face elimination.
Junior Cyrus Yazdani lost a tough 7-5, 2-6, 6-0 decision to Abrahin Jama of Prospect in the first round of singles play, and Jose Ocampo and Huy Nguyen lost 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 to Donald Gagliasso and Russel Oritz of Prospect in the first round of doubles play.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
