Finish could be fabulous Finish could be fabulous (May 28, 2004)

Palo Alto eliminates two WCAL teams, faces Wilcox in finals

by Rick Eymer

The Palo Alto High baseball team figured beating one West Catholic Athletic League powerhouse deserved some special recognition.

Look what the Vikings did for an encore.

Mike Bianchi collected three hits and David Stringer threw a six-hitter as Paly upended No. 7 seed Bellarmine Prep, 9-4, on Wednesday to advance to the Central Coast Section Division I finals - the school's first section finale since 1991.

Nathan Ford and Russ Hagemann each had two hits for the Vikings.

Sixth-seeded Palo Alto (21-9) will play SCVAL De Anza Division rival and top-seeded Wilcox (29-4) on Saturday at 4 p.m. at San Jose Muni for the championship.

Palo Alto has not won a section title since 1927, when it won the North Coast Section tournament with a 7-5 victory over Fort Bragg.

"I told the kids this could be the closest they'll ever be to the show," said Palo Alto coach Pete Colombo. "The place should be packed and it will be fun for the kids."

Getting to the finals has been a test of the Vikings' character. Paly beat WCAL regular-season champion St. Francis, ranked No. 1 in the nation for most of the season, just for the opportunity to play Bellarmine.

The Bells reached the semifinals by beating WCAL tournament champion Serra.

"That's what makes it special," said Colombo, who cut his teeth on WCAL baseball playing for Serra in the mid 80's along side former major-leaguer Gregg Jefferies. "Beating two private schools to get here is exciting for the program."

Colombo reached the CCS finals as a junior at Serra before losing to Bellarmine. As a senior the Padres reached the semifinals.

While Palo Alto was playing in its last final in 1991, Colombo was preparing to graduate from USF and embark on his coaching career two years later - coaching the Serra junior varsity team and a young kid by the name of Tom Brady, who went on to fame in a different sport.

The Vikings made sure there would be no WCAL team in the final for the first time since 1990 by scoring six runs in the fifth inning to turn a one-run deficit into a laugher. Well, maybe they held off on the laughing until Springer finished his complete-game victory.

The Chargers beat Paly three times during the regular season, and beat Leland, 1-0, in Wednesday's other semifinal.

"When you get to this point, anything can happen," said Colombo. "You can throw those three games out because this is what you play for."

Wilcox has outscored Palo Alto, 13-5, in the those three games, including two shutouts. Chargers' pitcher Jeff Gordon, who will be playing for Colombo's alma mater next season, struck out 14 Vikings in a 1-0 victory on March 31.

"He's a bulldog," Colombo said of Gordon. "His ball rises so we have to work on putting the ball in play and making them field it."

Stringer, who lost all three games to Wilcox, threw a six-hitter against them that day.

On Saturday, Jeremy Gillan gets a shot at the Chargers and Gordon.

"He's very cool headed and mature and will handle it well," said Colombo. "If his curveball is on, he can be tough."

Colombo is not surprised his team has made it this far, even after losing four of its first seven games, and splitting its first 14 contests.

"I knew all along if we could put it all together, pitching, hitting and defense, we could play with anybody," said Colombo.

After losing to Bellarmine on April 5, the Vikings have won 14 of 16 games and that's largely due to their defensive improvement.

"I moved Adam Dexter to third base (from right field) and he really solidified the infield," said Colombo. "It's a different atmosphere with him. He made a big time play against Bellarmine."

The Bells had a 3-2 lead entering the bottom of the fifth on Wednesday. Karl Laughton drove in two runs in the inning, and Matt Wismann, Bianchi, Shane Parsons and Dexter also drove in runs.

In 1927, Palo Alto only needed two wins for its section title, and played 11 games total the whole season.

This year it's taken three wins and 30 games just to reach the finals. The Vikings see no reason to slow down now.

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