The Cupertino Courier

Sports

Headrick tough, but Pioneers fall to Cats

By Dick Sparrer

The Los Gatos baseball team needed a victory over Cupertino last Friday afternoon to clinch a tie for first place in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. Aaron Headrick knew it--and he wasn't about to make it easy.

Headrick gave up just a couple of singles and blanked Los Gatos through six innings before the Wildcats picked up single runs in the seventh and eighth to pull out a thrilling 2-1 win.

With the win, the Cats share first place in the division with Los Altos and Wilcox, all three clubs at 11-3. Cupertino finished up 5-9 to tie for fourth with Palo Alto and Milpitas.

The Wildcats won the game on Friday, but only after Headrick and the Pioneers gave them quite a scare. Los Gatos had to score a run in the home half of the seventh to tie it, then scored again in the eighth to win it on a single by Kyle Blair, a sacrifice bunt, a stolen base and a clutch single by David Martini.

"He threw me a fast ball, and I was waiting for it," said Martini, who on a 2-2 count shot a hard ground ball through a drawn-in infield and past a diving Ryan Matsuoka at shortstop. "I just put a barrel on it and put it where no one was."

Martini fouled off two curve balls with two strikes to stay alive before getting the fast ball he could drive.

"I had two strikes, so I just shortened up to make contact," he said. "He threw pretty hard--deceivingly hard."

The "he" was Cupertino's Headrick, who threw seven and a third strong innings for the Pioneers. He gave up an infield single in the first, then allowed no hits for four and two-thirds innings as he frustrated Gatos hitters.

"He threw well," said Los Gatos coach Brad Sanfilippo of Headrick. "He's a competitor, and he's one of the better players in our league."

Headrick took a 2-hit shutout into the seventh before Los Gatos picked up the tying and winning runs.

Cupertino hitters were equally as frustrated facing Blair, the Gatos ace. The big right-hander allowed just three hits and struck out 14. Ironically, it was on a strikeout that the Pioneers scored their only run.

Matsuoka crushed a one-out double to left-center in the fourth, then faced to third on a passed ball. Nick Scibetta struck out on a 3-2 count, but the ball got away from the catcher and Matsuoka scored on the wild pitch.

The Pioneers, who went down in order in all but two of the eight innings in the game, threatened with two outs in the sixth. Headrick singled up the middle on a two-strike pitch, and Matsuoka beat out an infield hit on another two-strike pitch. But the two were left stranded when Scibetta flew out to right.

Matsuoka was the defensive star of the day for the Pioneers with a couple of solid plays at shortstop. He made a fine stop to his backhand side in the third and threw out a Gatos runner at first. The next batter was hit by a pitch, but catcher Chase Hill gunned him down attempting the steal.

Earlier in the week the Cats and Pioneers had gone eight innings, but Los Gatos unloaded for six runs in the top of the eighth to claim an 11-5 win.

Gatos scored in the top of the first on a solo homer by Paul Politi to lead off the game, but the Pioneers rallied for four in the home half of the frame. With one out, Matsuoka reached on an error and Scibetta singled. Hits by Chris Haley, Troy Milton, Blake Warren, Kenji Mitchell and Harrison Yee led to four runs.

The Cats tied it with a run in the fourth, but Cupertino retook the lead with a run in the bottom of the inning. Yee reached on an error but was forced by Headrick. Matsuoka reached on an error with Headrick racing to third, and Scibetta drove in the run with a sacrifice fly to left.

Yee and Hilton had two hits apiece for the Pioneers.

Mustangs at CCS

Homestead, the only Fremont Union High School District team in the Central Coast Section baseball playoffs, hopes to exhibit the strong defense that carried it to a 13-2 record and the El Camino Division championship.

Junior Evan Marshall likely will be on the mound for the No. 8-seeded Mustangs, looking for his 10th win of the season, when Homestead hosts No. 9 St. Francis on May 16 at 4 p.m. in the first round of the Division I tournament. Homestead (20-7 overall) and St. Francis met in the first game of the season in late February, and the Lancers prevailed 8-4.

Wednesday's winner will advance to the quarterfinals on May 19 at San Jose's PAL Stadium against either top seed Valley Christian (29-4) or No. 16 Woodside (19-8).

Marshall improved to 9-3 during the final week of El Camino play when the Mustangs split with Santa Clara (10-5). The talented right-hander was the winning pitcher, as the Mustangs cracked the 20-win barrier in their final home game on May 8.

Marshall had plenty of support in the 10-2 victory--a nine-hit offense and an errorless defense. Senior center fielder Eric Taubman was Homestead's top hitter, smacking a triple and two singles and knocking in three runs.

Monta Vista closed its season strong behind sophomore pitchers Jason Estes and Justin Rahn. The Matadors kept Lynbrook (0-21) from getting its first win of the season, sweeping a home-and-home series with the Vikings.

Estes, who helped himself at the plate with three hits and as many RBIs, allowed just four hits in a 6-1 decision at Lynbrook. The Vikings collected three singles and a double by Quinn Sullivan.

Two days later, Rahn drove in three runs with a pair of doubles as Monta Vista won 10-1 and finished the season with a 4-11 record in El Camino play and 6-17 overall. Junior Greg Wallis had two of Lynbrook's five hits.

Vikes, Mats go on

Lynbrook and Monta Vista, the top two teams in the De Anza Division, begin action this week in the 13-team CCS Division I softball tournament at the Salinas Sports Complex.

The Vikings received the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye after winning the De Anza championship with an 11-1 record and going 18-3 overall. The Vikes, led by their senior twin battery of pitcher Kendra Wood and catcher Kelsey Wood, will meet either No. 6 Gilroy or No. 13 Piedmont Hills, May 19, 10 a.m.

Lynbrook finally lost a division game last week 7-4 at Milpitas. Kelsey Wood had three hits in the game, including a home run. Kendra Wood, despite striking out 12 batters, was touched for eight hits. Two days earlier, Wood fired a 4-hitter and struck out 14, leading her team past Homestead 8-1.Veronica Howard led Lynbrook's offense with two hits and two runs.

Junior first baseman Olivia Hartoon paced Homestead with two hits, including an RBI double. Hartoon finished her first varsity season as the team's top hitter with a .338 batting average. Senior Lauren Gniadek (14 RBIs) and sophomore Maddy McKenna (14 runs) also were offensive leaders for the Mustangs, who finished the season 5-7 in division play and 9-16 overall. The pitching of junior Becca Gularte (1.28 earned run average) often kept the Mustangs close.

Monta Vista, second in De Anza play with a 9-3 mark, will take an 18-8-1 overall record and the No. 7 seed into a first-round contest against No. 10 Wilcox, May 16, 4:15 p.m. at Salinas. The first-round survivor will tangle with No. 2 San Benito on Saturday, 10:15 a.m.

The Matadors closed out division play with three shutouts in a row, including 16-0 over Cupertino and 3-0 over Los Gatos last week. Kelley Martino pitched 1-hitters in the recent decisions. Sarah Hassman had three hits and two RBIs against Cupertino, and Jessica Barry delivered three of the Matadors' five hits against Los Gatos.

Mike Barnhart contributed to this story.