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Photograph by George Sakkestad
Giant Step: Prospect sophomore Curtis Wills tossed a two-hit shutout in a 1-0 win over Piedmont Hills last week. It was the first of three wins for the Panthers on the week.
Big week for the Panthers
Dons nail upset wins over Oak Grove Eagles
By Dick Sparrer
Everyone's chasing unbeaten Leigh in the baseball race in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
And it's Prospect doing the best job in that chase--good enough, in fact, that those Panthers just could be putting themselves into position for a trip to the Central Coast Section playoffs.
No one--not even Prospect--is likely to catch the Longhorns in the race for the Santa Teresa Division title this spring. But the Panthers did put together three wins last week to move into second place ahead of Gunderson.
Prospect edged Piedmont Hills 1-0, nipped Mt. Pleasant 2-1 and blanked Willow Glen 4-0 last week to improve to 10-5 in division play. Gunderson sits a half game back at 9-5.
Just an important for the Panthers is their season record. The three wins helped Prospect push its overall mark to 14-8, a strong enough mark to keep them very much alive in the CCS playoff picture.
Prospect started play last week with an exciting 1-0 win over Piedmont Hills. Sophomore righthander Curtis Wills tossed a two-hit shutout for the victory, and Brett Bonvechio's solo homer in the third provided the only run Wills needed. Wills evened his mound record at 2-2 with the win.
Bonvechio finished the day with a pair a hits and Darrell Jacks and Adam Vidal each slapped doubles.
That was just the start of an outstanding week for the Panthers. David Marrs came back with a two-hitter in Prospect's 2-1 win over the Cardinals two days later. Marrs led the Panthers offensively with a pair of singles and Bonvechio smacked a double.
The third was the key inning again for the Panthers, who scored twice in the frame. The Cards touched Marrs for a single run in the fourth, but he hung on to pick up the win, pushing his pitching record to 4-3.
Prospect capped a perfect week with a 4-0 win over Willow Glen on Saturday. Bonvechio ripped his second homer of the week, a two-run shot in--you guessed it--the third.
Vidal tossed a four-hit shutout for the win, upping his mound record to 3-0.
Warriors drop two
It was a tough week for Westmont in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL. The Warriors lost 7-4 to first-place Valley Christian, dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to Leland and fell 8-4 to Oak Grove.
Tony LaVista singled and doubled and Sean Felder ripped a double, but the Warriors dropped the 4-3 nod to the Chargers on Wednesday.
Westmont jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but Leland batted back for two in the home half of the first, one in the fourth to tie it and one in the fifth to take the lead.
The Warriors had opened the week with the loss to the Eagles. Oak Grove opened up a 6-0 lead after three innings, but Westmont made it close with four runs in the fifth. The Eagles picked up two in the sixth, though, and rolled from there to the win.
Sophomore Colin McAvoy had two hits, but Westmont capped the week with the 7-4 loss to Valley Christian.
The VC win, coupled with an 11-2 win by Del Mar over Oak Grove the same day, punched Valley into first place in the Mt. Hamilton Division.
Dons upset Eagles
Del Mar pulled off the upset win over Oak Grove thanks to a big day by senior Nick Mitchell, who not only was the winning pitcher but also had three hits to knock in four runs.
Valley Christian leads the Mt. Hamilton Division with a 12-3 record, and Oak Grove slipped to second at 11-4. Leland rests in third at 10-5, with Del Mar fourth at 7-7. Santa Teresa is fifth at 5-9, with Westmont sixth at 4-11 and Pioneer seventh at 2-12.
Mitchell kept the Dons in the running for the division's fourth playoff spot with his superb performance against Oak Grove last Friday.
Mitchell went the distance to toss a four-hitter for the Dons, and he also led a sixteen-hit Del Mar onslaught with two doubles and a single to knock in the four runs. Mitchell pushed his mound record to 5-4 with the win.
Danny Oswald had three hits in the win for Del Mar, and Scott Martin singled and doubled to drive in three runs. David Sanfilippo singled and doubled in the win and Kyle Viau blasted a double.
The Dons, 12-13 for the year, lost a 9-5 decision to Valley Christian to open the week. Sanfilippo homered twice and doubled to knock in three of his club's five runs, and James Rollins singled and doubled for the Dons.
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Campbell, California
