The Rams (7-5) currently sit in third place in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. Leland (11-1) leads the pack and Westmont (9-3) holds second but is still within reach of the Rams.

"We're looking for help from Leland," said Willow Glen coach Bret Gladden, "and we hold the tiebreaker against Westmont."

Leland finishes the regular season with two games against Westmont while the Rams head down the home stretch with a couple of games against Santa Teresa (6-6). If Leland takes two from Westmont and Willow Glen sweeps the Saints, the Rams will end in a tie for second with Westmont at 9-5. Since Willow Glen won both of their division games with the Warriors, the Rams would receive one of the automatic qualifications for the CCS playoffs that are reserved for the top two teams in the Mt. Hamilton Division.

Gladden isn't counting on anything from anyone else but is getting the Rams ready to finish strong. They have been doing their part, having won five of their last six games and slowly climbing into the thick of the playoff race.

Willow Glen's ace, Carlos Torres (7-2), was to be on the hill for the Rams when they opened the week by traveling to Santa Teresa on May 11. "I've been throwing Torres on the road because he is so adaptable and doesn't care what mound he throws from," Gladden said.

The Rams seem to be peaking at the right time and gave strong evidence of that last week by sweeping two games from Prospect. In the first contest on the Panthers diamond, fans might have had to check the calendar to make sure it wasn't a football game they were watching. Willow Glen jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter ... uh, inning, and then cruised to a 20-0 win.

"We had eight straight hits to open the game," said the coach. "Our bats finally came alive."

Torres was the beneficiary of all that Rams firepower, picking up the win and allowing only four hits. While Willow Glen had an outstanding game offensively with 17 hits, the Rams also played errorless defense to seal the win.

The offensive barrage was led by the long ball with three home runs. Chris Hobbs, Steve Rebagliati and Jason Ethridge all connected to blast round trippers. Hobbs added a single and double and made his hits count, driving in six runs on the day. Rebagliati chipped in a couple of singles and a two-bagger to total four hits. Ethridge slapped another single to get a multi-hit day.

It was the same results with a different look when Prospect came to the home of the Rams later in the week for a rematch. Gladden was concerned that his team was due for a letdown after such a decisive win a couple of days before. Although they did not produce the same barrage and made a few mental blunders while running the bases, the Rams managed to scratch out a 3-2 win.

Ethridge (5-4) got the call to hurl against the Panthers and came through in fine fashion. He gave up only four hits, and the two runs were unearned due to a fielding error and didn't come until late in the game in the sixth inning.

"Ethridge gave up no walks which has been his Achilles heel this year," Gladden said. "He throws hard and he dominated with good control."

The Rams put a run on the board in the second to take a 1-0 lead and then came right back in the third to add two more. Ethridge helped his own cause by ripping a single and then raced home for the score when Tyler Smith blasted a triple on a hit and run play. Will Robinson followed with a solid single, giving Willow Glen a 3-0 edge at the end of three innings.

Rams in finals

The Willow Glen badminton team finished the year strong with wins in three of its last three matches. The Rams beat Mt. Pleasant 8-7 and Branham 13-2 but lost to Oak Grove 9-6 to finish the year 5-9.

Senior singles star Long Nguyen and the doubles teams of Andy Huynh and Chris Woo, Giulietta Pezzaniti and Surleen Kaur, freshmen Bryant Chau and Jason Kuang and Anna Giang and Jonathan Nguyen will now advance to the league finals being held May 11­12 at Mt. Pleasant.

Rams at CCS

The Willow Glen boys tennis team has earned a place in the CCS finals. The Rams will open the playoffs May 13, 7 p.m., at Homestead. Willow Glen enters the post-season with a 19-13 season record and the Mustangs are 17-10. The winner will face the St. Francis (14-18)­Aptos (20-9) winner in the quarterfinals on May 15 at Santa Clara High.

The Rams improved to 11-5 in league play last week with wins over Leigh and first-place Leland.

Justin Ble hammered home 10 kills to lead the Rams to the upset win over the Chargers. Willow Glen rolled 25-18, 25-18, 25-15 to stick Leland with a loss, dropping the Chargers to 13-3 in the Mt. Hamilton Division.

Ble had drilled 14 kills earlier in the week in a hard-earned 25-14, 24-26, 25-23, 25-11 win over Leigh.

Softball split

Sophomore hurler Michele McCollum flipped a three-hit shutout to lead the Willow Glen girls softball team to a 2-0 win over Silver Creek last week, but only after the Rams had managed just a couple of hits in a 2-0 loss to Branham to open the week.

McCollum struck out six as she threw seven zeroes at the Raiders. The win helped McCollum push her record to 14-4 for the year. The Rams are 17-8 this season and 7-3 in the Santa Teresa Division.

Marina Mendez doubled and singled twice to lead the Rams at the plate and Kelley Snyder had two hits.

McCollum tossed a five-hitter at Branham, but the first-place Bruins beat the Rams 2-0.

Rams golf tourney

The 11th annual Willow Glen Rams Booster Club golf tournament will be held June 8 at the Spring Valley Golf Course in Milpitas. The tourney begins with a 2 p.m. shotgun start.

The $125 entry fee includes "a great dinner," says tournament director Bob Parker. All proceeds from the event benefit the athletic program at Willow Glen.

For more information, email Parker at clparker47@yahoo.com or booster chairwoman Jody Zetterquist at jody.zetter quist@gene.ge.com.