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Returners bolster Gatos hopes in baseball race By Dick Sparrer
When Wilcox won its own tournament to open the 1999 season, the title came as no surprise to Los Gatos baseball coach Joe Winstead.
The veteran Gatos coach expects as much from the Chargers this season, because Wilcox is the club Winstead sees as the title favorite in the rugged De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League this spring.
As for his own Wildcats? Well, he sees them chasing the Chargers in the division race, but he also sees the Cats as one of the top four clubs in the league.
"We have average ability but good desire," said Winstead as he looked ahead to the 1999 season.
Still, while the coach may be downplaying the projections for his squad this spring, other coaches in the division are a bit more outspoken in their predictions for the Cats.
Fremont's Sid Castro rates Gatos as a title contender right along with Wilcox, Milpitas and Monta Vista. And with four returners back from a team that finished second in the division last spring, the Wildcats just might fit that description.
Senior outfielders Andy Housley and Jeff Ouellet and senior catcher Brandon Fennema top the list of Gatos returners along with junior shortstop Mike Cook. Cook and Housley are also expected to see mound action for the Cats this spring.
Steve Chase, a junior southpaw, and Ben Shanker, a sophomore right-hander, join Cook and Housley on the Gatos pitching staff that also includes sophomore Matt Benedetti and senior Mike Harris.
Shanker and soph Joe Warren are both expected to see time in the outfield for the Cats. Warren can also play shortstop when Cook in on the hill.
The Wildcats are off to a rocky 2-3 start in the '99 campaign, their most recent decision a 7-2 loss to Milpitas in the league opener.
Junior Brandon Chapatte slapped three hits, and Fennema blasted a double, but the Cats lost their De Anza Division opener to the Trojans.
The clubs were locked in a 2-2 tie through four innings, but Milpitas rallied for two runs in the fifth and three more in the fifth to win it.
Shanker was tagged with the loss, his first pitching decision of the year.
Los Gatos lost to Mitty in the first round of the Wilcox Tournament to open the year, but battled back with a pair of impressive victories over Valley Christian and Monta Vista, a couple of clubs expected to contend for league championships this season.
Housley outdueled Valley Christian standout C.J. Houston to pick up the pitching win in a 4-3 Gatos victory over the Warriors.
Fennema cracked a single and a double, and Cook hit a double for the Cats in the win.
Gatos jumped on Valley for three runs in the first to take the early lead. The Warriors tied it by the end of the fifth, but the Cats broke the tie with a run in the sixth, and that proved their margin of victory.
Chase picked up his first win of the year a game later when the Wildcats blanked Monta Vista on just two hits. Fennema double keyed a 6-hit attack for Los Gatos.
Los Gatos dropped a tough 8-7 nod to Westmont in the fourth round of the Wilcox event. Shanker homered and doubled to knock in a couple of runs. Housley singled and doubled, Chapatte had two hits, and David Pearl ripped a double for the Cats.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
