Willow Glen Resident
Sports
Photograph by Shaminder Dulai
Out at Home: Bellarmine's Tommy Medica puts the tag of Mike Gault of Los Gatos for an out at the plate. The Wildcats managed to score enough runs on the day, though, to turn back the Bells 9-3 in the Valley Christian Crown Classic tournament.
Bells in two tourneys at the same time
Bellarmine splits in one, wins two in the other
By Dick Sparrer
It was a day that started out bright for the Bellarmine baseball team, despite overcast skies and intermittent showers last Saturday.
Still, the gray skies didn't get the Bells down--they were too busy opening the Valley Christian Crown Classic with a solid 10-3 win over Harbor.
The day would get dreary for the Bells, though. They suffered a 9-3 loss to Los Gatos in the afternoon to finish tournament pool play with a 1-1 record.
The Saturday split left the Bells 20-2 for the year as they advance into the next round of the Crown Classic this week. It's a week that could get a little confusing for the Bells, though, as they play in two tournaments simultaneously.
Bellarmine is also playing in the Serra Knights of the Columbus Spring Classic, and the Bells opened that tourney with two wins last week--beating St. Mary's of Stockton 5-2 and Burlingame 11-7.
The win over Harbor on Saturday was a big one for the Bells, or at least for two of the Bells.
Senior hurler Dean Clark went the distance to toss a 5-hitter for the victory, and senior catcher Tommy Medica blasted a grand slam in the third inning.
"It was our first complete game of the year," said Bellarmine coach Gary Cunningham of Clark's gem. "And it was his first start in his Bellarmine career."
Clark struck out seven and walked just one as he scattered the five hits.
The Bells took the early lead with a run in the first and two in the second, but Harbor cut it to 3-2 with a couple of runs in the top of the third. Bellarmine answered, though, with five in the home half of the frame, the big blow a grand slam by Medica.
Medica finished the day with two hits to lead the 11-hit attack for the Bells. Erik Goeddel and Drew Dilts each doubled in the win.
Bellarmine dropped one later in the day against Los Gatos. The Bells trailed just 3-2 after three innings, but the Wildcats rallied for two in the fourth, then broke the game open with four runs in the fifth. An error in each inning proved costly for the Bells.
The Cats opened with a couple of runs in the top of the first, but Bellarmine answered right back. Medica rifled a shot that brought up chalk on the left field line for a double. An out later, Goeddel ripped a hard ground ball up the middle past a diving second baseman for a run-scoring single.
The Cats got the run back in the second, but Bellarmine scored again in the third to stay close. Nick Aurelio was hit by a pitch and took second on a balk. Will Dugoni dropped a sacrifice bunt to move him to third and Medica blasted a sacrifice fly to center to drive him home.
The relentless Los Gatos attack continued in the fourth, though. Gatos put a couple of hits together with an error to score two more runs to move in front 5-2.
Bellarmine threatened to come back in the bottom of the fourth when Goeddel and Nate Garcia were each hit by pitches. But a ground ball to second was turned into a double play, and fly ball ended the threat.
The Wildcats ripped four hits and took advantage of another Bellarmine error to break the game open with four runs in the fifth.
Mark Canha crushed a long home run to right field in the sixth, but that solo blast was the only noise the Bells would make the rest of the day.
Bellarmine had won two games earlier in the week in the Knights of Columbus Spring Classic.
The Bells snapped a 2-2 with three runs in the top of the seventh to defeat St. Mary's 5-2. Sophomore Andy Hennessey threw five strong innings for the Bells, striking out seven and giving up just five hits and two hits.
But it was Medica who picked up the mound win with an inning-plus of relief. He struck out three and walked two in his stint. Garcia struck out three in the seventh to get the save.
Bellarmine had just four hits in the game, but it was enough for the win. Medica and Dugoni each singled and scored twice and Canha and Kevin Connolly each singled. Medica drove in a run and stole a base and Canha also knocked in a run.
The Bells opened up a 10-0 lead and then held on for an 11-7 win over Burlingame earlier in the week.
Garcia ran his record to 5-0 with the mound win. He struck out seven and walked five as he tossed 1-hit baseball over four shutout innings.
Dugoni doubled twice to knock in three runs in the win. Hennessey singled and doubled, Canha had two hits to drive in two runs and Aurelio doubled home a pair of runs.
Medica, Dilts, Craig Broussard and Joe Dickerson also singled and Travis Adams, Dilts, Chris Britton and Kyle Felix each knocked in runs.
