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One of Each: Willow Glen hurler Matt Durkin went the distance to toss the Rams to a 5-2 win over Burlingame in the first round of the CCS playoffs. But Willow Glen lost 4-2 to Santa Cruz on Saturday to face elimination.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Panthers lose a heartbreaker
Rams win, but then fall to Santa Cruz
By Dick Sparrer
The Presentation girls entered the Central Coast Section Division II softball playoffs with high expectations. After all, the Panthers were seeded No. 4 after posting a 22-9 regular season record, and they drew a first-round bye into the quarter-final round.
But those expectations were dashed last Saturday afternoon at PAL Stadium when the Panthers dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to Carlmont to see their season come to an end.
Carlmont, a 5-0 first-round win over San Lorenzo Valley, ran its record to 24-8 with the Saturday win over the Panthers, and the Scots will prepare for the CCS semifinals.
Presentation, meanwhile, is finished for the season. But it was a rather impressive season while it lasted.
The Panthers secured an automatic CCS berth by finishing third in the tough Mount Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. Mitty won the title with a 13-1 record. Westmont was second at 11-3 with Presentation third at 9-5.
Their solid season record helped the Panthers get a first-round bye in the playoffs, but the 3-2 loss on Saturday ended their season.
Carlmont scored a run in the top of the seventh to break a 2-2 tie to pull out the win last weekend. Shannon Linerud was stuck with the tough loss, leaving her with a 13-6 record for the year.
Jana Arde had three of Presentation's five hits in the game.
The Scots opened the game with two runs in the top of the first and that's how it remained until the fifth when the Panthers rallied for two to tie it. But Carlmont scored the run in the seventh and Presentation couldn't match it in the bottom of the frame.
The Panthers set themselves up for the playoffs with a 5-0 win over Del Mar on the final day of the regular season.
Adrianne St. Cin tossed four innings of no-hit softball to get the win against the Dons. She struck out seven before giving way to Linerud. St. Cin was the winning pitcher, pushing her record to 6-1, and Linerud nailed her first save of the year.
Andrea Gremer singled and tripled to drive in two runs for the Panthers and Linerud tripled home a pair of runs.
Meredith Dishaw tripled in the win and Sarah Logan had two hits.
Presentation needed the win against the Dons. They had lost their previous two games 5-0 to Westmont and 5-3 to Oak Grove.
The Panthers had just two hits in the loss to the Warriors.
Against the Eagles, Arde and Linerud had three hits each, but the Panthers lost 5-3. St. Cin doubled in the game.
Linerud was tagged with the pitching loss, despite tossing a three-hitter. Her record dropped to 13-5 for the year as the Panthers committed six errors behind her.
Ashley Callaway, Priscilla Soria, Kristina Kordesch, Jessica Carrow, Kim Medica, Katie Passalacqua, Christina Dolores, Nicole Roussere and Amber Durica were other members of the Presentation squad this spring.
Rams fall 4-2
After opening the CCS Division II playoffs with an impressive 5-2 win over Burlingame, the Willow Glen baseball team slipped out of postseason play in a 4-2 loss to Santa Cruz last Saturday at Washington Park in Santa Clara.
It marked the end of a sensational season for the Rams, who rolled to a 17-1 record to win the title in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
But the Rams finished the year 21-5 overall after the loss to the Cardinals last weekend.
Willow Glen had opened the playoffs in grand fashion with the 5-2 win over Burlingame.
Senior right hander Matt Durkin tossed a complete game, striking out eight and allowing just two hits, to lead the Rams past the Panthers. He gave up single runs in the second and fifth, but both were unearned.
The Rams rallied for two runs in the second and all but wrapped up the victory with a three-run rally in the fourth. The win punched Durkin's season record to 7-2.
Scott Wallberg ripped a clutch single to knock in a run in the two-run second. Gabe Candelaria and Mike DeBono also drove home runs for the Rams in the win.
The win pushed the Rams into Saturday's quarterfinals. But even hard-throwing senior right hander Bobby Hobbs couldn't get the Rams past the Cards.
The Cardinals hit the Rams for two runs each in the third, fourth and sixth, thanks in no small part to a pair of homers, to stick Hobbs with his only loss of the year. The Willow Glen ace ended the year with a 10-1 mound record.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
