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Two big wins for Dons Del Mar
By Dick Sparrer
Del Mar started play last week dangerously close to the bottom of the pack in the baseball race in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
The Dons had to do something if they hoped to get back into the play-off picture, and they had to do it fast.
So that's just what they did.
The Dons made short work of Westmont and Pioneer to jump from sixth place in the division standings all the way to fourth, and just a game out of third.
It's a dog-eat-dog world in Mt. Hamilton Division baseball, where any team can beat any other, and that's exactly what was happening in division play last week.
Valley Christian knocked off powerhouses Oak Grove and Leland last week to move into a tie for first place with Oak Grove, and Del Mar won twice to even its record at 6-6 and to pull within a game of third-place Leland.
Del Mar opened the week with a solid 12-7 win over Westmont, and backed that up on Friday with an impressive 7-5 come-from-behind victory over Pioneer.
The Dons took the early lead against the Mustangs with two runs in the first, but they found themselves trailing last-place Pioneer 4-2 after three innings. Del Mar moved in front in the fifth, but the Mustangs tied it 5-5 in the home half of the inning and the Dons found themselves in a real dogfight.
But the powerful Del Mar bats went to work in the top of the seventh. Lead-off hitter David Sanfilippo opened the inning with a double to left.
Sanfilippo raced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Danny Oswald, but it turned out to be a sacrifice the Dons didn't really need. Nick Mitchell bombed a two-run homer over the right-field fence, and Del Mar jumped out to a 7-5 lead.
Kyle Viau singled and Scott Martin blasted a double to keep the inning moving, but the Dons would get just the two runs.
As it turns out, that was more than enough for relief pitcher Greg Leon. The righthander, who had retired the side on two strikeouts and a comebacker in the sixth, put down the Mustangs one-two-three in the seventh to clinch the victory.
The Dons had jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first. Sanfilippo walked to open the game and rambled home on a triple by Oswald. Mitchell drove home Oswald with a sacrifice fly to right.
Pioneer got a run back in the home half of the first and added three more in the third to take a 4-2 lead, but Del Mar picked up three in the fifth to go up 5-4.
Sanfilippo started this rally, too, when he worked the Pioneer hurler for a one-out walk. Oswald walked and Mitchell reached on an error to load the bases. Viau unloaded the bags in a hurry with a double to right-center.
Viau had a big day for the Dons with a double and two singles to knock in three runs. Mitchell had the homer and a single and also drove in three runs. Sanfilippo doubled and scored twice, Oswald had the triple and Martin doubled.
Viau had homered and doubled and was also the winning pitcher for the Dons in the 12-7 victory over Westmont to open the week.
Sanfilippo doubled and singled twice to drive in three runs, and Oswald singled and doubled to knock in three. Danny Bosakowski added two hits in the win, and Rocky Roberto drove in two runs.
Kyle Collins had two hits for the Warriors in the game, and Jim Brown doubled. Tony LaVista drove in a couple of runs for Westmont.
It was a pretty tough week for the Warriors. They started on Monday with a tough 9-4 loss to Leland, and then, after falling to Del Mar, lost on Friday to Santa Teresa 13-4.
Seth Zajac knocked in a couple of runs with a pair of hits in the loss to the Chargers to open the week.
Mike Cifelli doubled twice to plate three runs, and Collins had three hits in the loss to the Saints. Brown ripped another double.
Mt. Hamilton Division standings: Oak Grove 9-3, Valley Christian 9-3, Leland 7-5, Del Mar 6-6, Santa Teresa 5-7, Westmont 4-8, Pioneer 2-9
Panthers split
The Prospect baseball team split a pair of games last week in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL, dropping a 2-1 heartbreaker to Gunderson before pounding Willow Glen 9-3.
Darrell Jacks and Curtis Wills each blasted home runs to lead the Panthers to the win over the Rams. Jacks finished the day with a pair of hits and knocked in three runs, and Wills had two hits.
David Marrs slapped a pair of hits to drive in four runs for the Panthers, and he was also the winning pitcher. Brett Bonvechio supported with a couple of singles.
Bonvechio had doubled earlier in the week, but the Panthers lost a tough 2-1 nod to the Grizzlies.
Prospect is now 7-5 in division play and 11-8 for the year.
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Campbell, California
