But as far as the Los Gatos baseball team is concerned, no disrespect intended, the heck with the fans--the Wildcats are hoping to wrap up the championship in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League on the road this week.

Los Gatos has a two-game lead in the standings with two games left to play. Any combination of a Gatos win or a Wilcox loss would secure the title for the Cats--and they'd much rather clinch it with a win of their own at Mountain View on Wednesday afternoon.

The Cats, 14-2 in the division and 21-4 for the year, visit the Spartans for a game on May 11, 3:30 p.m., the same day Wilcox (12-4) takes on Cupertino. Should Gatos lose and Wilcox wins, the Wildcats could still claim the crown when they host Palo Alto on May 13, 3:30 p.m. You can bet, though, the Wildcats don't want to wait until Friday the 13th to take their title.

Los Gatos cut its magic number to one last Friday with a tight 5-4 win over Milpitas. The Cats could have clinched earlier in the week, but lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to Wilcox.

"We showed the kind of good character we have and responded on Friday with a win," said Gatos coach Brad Sanfilippo. But it wasn't an easy win to say the least.

"We came out flat after the emotional loss," said Sanfilippo. "Milpitas is still trying to make the playoffs, and they've got a scrappy club."

The Trojans put up three runs in the third to take the lead, but Los Gatos came right back.

"We answered with two in the third, which was great for us," said the coach.

Carlos Alonso singled and took second on an error. Mike Gault singled Alonso home and moved to second with the outfielder bobbled the ball. Michael Brienzo followed with a run-scoring single.

A solo homer in the fifth put Milpitas up 4-2, but the Cats came fighting back again.

Justin Schafer beat out a drag bunt down the third base line for a single and Derek Thomas singled. Jeremy Bays walked to load the bases and Alonso walked to force home a run. Marty Mullins was hit by a pitch, pushing in another run and Gault followed with a safety squeeze bunt to drive in Bays with what would proved the winning run.

Thomas shut down the Trojans in the seventh to lock up the win, running his season mound record to 9-0.

Bays and Ryan Kiel also singled in the game for Los Gatos.

The week opened with the tough loss to the Chargers.

"We had our chances, but we didn't play our best game," said Sanfilippo, whose club committed three errors and left seven runners on base. "They did the little things right."

"We put ourselves in a position to tie it in the seventh," added the coach. Brienzo got things started with a one-out double.

"Brienzo doubled to give us a chance, just like he's done all year," said Sanfilippo. "In the clutch situations, he's the guy."

Kyle Blair bounced out to shortstop, moving Brienzo to third. Bays appeared to drive in the tying run when his high chopper down the third base line went for an infield single. But the base umpire ruled that Bays had fouled the ball off his foot. The Chargers retired Bays for the final out, and Brienzo was left stranded at third.

Mullins homered and singled in the game for the Cats. It was his sixth home run of the year, his third against the Chargers. Brienzo and Gault each doubled and Schafer singled.

Frosh-soph wins title

The varsity club may still be waiting to clinch the title, but the Los Gatos frosh-soph team wrapped up its division crown last Saturday with a 9-3 win over Wilcox.

Joey Donofrio went six-plus innings to get the mound win, allowing just four hits, and K.C. Silva singled and doubled to knock in a pair of runs. Nick Kalpine singled and doubled, Wes Howell had two hits and drove in a run and Mitch Benedetti singled and knocked in two.

The win left the young Wildcats with a 12-3 division record, giving them a four-game lead with just three league games to play.

Los Gatos opened play last week with a 13-0 win over Wilcox on the strength of a 4-hit shutout by Steven Krach. Kalpine tripled and singled to drive in two runs and Silva, Howell, Kevin Wyllie and Benedetti each singled and doubled. Andrew Gomez had two hits to plate a couple of runs and Eric McDonald had two hits. Benedetti drove in three in the win.