Publication Date: Friday, March 11, 2005
Palo Alto, Gunn baseball
Palo Alto, Gunn baseball
(March 11, 2005)teams win league openers
by Keith Peters
Pete Colombo has been paying close attention to the Palo Alto boys' basketball team's run in the postseason.
While Colombo would love to see the Vikings play in the Division II state championship game on March 18, that also means his Paly baseball team would be without starting catcher Nathan Ford for yet another week.
Ford is a reserve guard and a key player for the basketball team. He's also a critical member of the baseball squad, helping the Vikings reach the CCS finals last season.
In Ford's absence, Nick Goodspeed has held down the catching duties. Coincidently, Goodspeed is in line to take Ford's quarterback job on the Paly football team this fall.
While Ford has participated in some baseball workouts and likely will be ready to play as soon as the basketball season ends, baseball will just have to wait.
Ford already has missed five games, during which Palo Alto has gone 3-2. The Vikings opened SCVAL De Anza Division play Wednesday with a 5-0 victory over host Cupertino.
Senior Karl Laughton pitched a complete-game three-hitter while improving to 2-0. He struck out six and walked none. Laughton also helped himself with two hits while teammates Matt Wismann, Andrew White, Jake Martin and Michael Barich also contributed two singles apiece.
Palo Alto has won three straight with the Vikings' pitching staff allowing just seven hits during that time. Junior Andrew White provided the highlight of the streak when he fired a no-hitter in a 9-0 nonleague win over Lynbrook last week. He also had two doubles and two RBI to help his own cause.
Palo Alto will host Los Altos today (3:30 p.m.) with the possibility of Ford being in the lineup, depending on the Vikings' NorCal semifinal game last night. A victory means another hoops game Saturday and another day for Colombo without his senior catcher.
Gunn coach Tim Thompson has had his own concerns, as far as personnel goes. While he's no longer waiting on players who played winter sports, the Titans didn't practice with their entire squad until Monday.
Ryan McDermott and Sam Zipperstein recently completed their soccer season while Nadav Perl is finally out following a long wrestling campaign. Colin Felch just returned from an ankle injury that kept him out three weeks and Mike Myers has been battling a bad back all preseason.
Gunn, however, looked in fine shape Tuesday by winning its SCVAL El Camino Division opener, 9-2 over visiting Monta Vista. McDermott made his season debut a smashing one with a home run, sacrifice fly and three RBI.
Nate Urbassik led the way with a home run, double and four RBI. Urbassik and McDermott both homered in Gunn's five-run first inning.
That made it easy for Brent Gardiner, who pitched a complete-game six-hitter. He struck out eight and walked just one. The Titans, who improved to 1-0 (2-2 overall), faced Saratoga on Thursday and visit Lynbrook on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Menlo School, meanwhile, has played a heavy schedule of tournament games against some of the best teams in the Central Coast Section. The Knights, as a result, are 3-5 following Wednesday's 3-1 loss to Valley Christian-San Jose in the final round of the Peninsula Classic.
Menlo senior Andy Suiter, who helped pitch the Knights to the CCS Division III title last season, suffered his first loss of the 2005 campaign despite pitching a complete-game five-hitter. Suiter also struck out nine and walked four.
Valley Christian picked up two runs in the first inning when the Menlo left fielder attempted to make a diving catch of a sinking line drive. The ball skipped past him, allowing a runner to score and the hitter reach third, where he scored on a sacrifice fly.
On Monday, Menlo dropped an 8-0 decision to San Benito as the Knights' suffered their worst defensive game of the season by committing six errors. Menlo has committed only six errors in its first six games before Monday.
Menlo opened the NorCal tournament on Thursday. It continues next week.
Menlo-Atherton also has been busy in tournament play, also taking on some of the best teams in CCS, twice losing to nationally No. 31-ranked St. Francis in the Brother Wally Ryan Tournament. The most recent setback to the Lancers came Monday in a 19-8 decision. The Bears, however, belted 15 hits, three each by Clark Hagman and David Klein. Hagman also drove in three runs.
That loss dropped M-A into the third-place game Wednesday, where the Bears fell to perennial CCS power Monterey, 8-4. The Toreadores are ranked 17th in California.
Dominic Di Ricco led the Bears with two hits and two RBI. Menlo-Atherton plays Hillsdale today at Flood Park 3:15 p.m., in a final tuneup before opening PAL Bay Division play next Wednesday at Half Moon Bay.
Boys golf
Palo Alto remained undefeated at 3-0 in the SCVAL De Anza Division with a 218-224 victory over Fremont on Wednesday at Palo Alto Municipal. Will Haydon paced the Vikings with a 1-under-par 35 in spring-like conditions. Max Rausch carded a 40.
In the Private Schools Athletic League, Woodside Priory's Sam Chavez and Sacred Heart Prep's Jack Paton shot 1-under-par 34s to share medalist honors during the Gators' 201-215 triumph at the par-34 Palo Alto Hills Country Club.
Softball
Senior Kelli Fangonilo had a single, double and triple plus three RBI to pace Palo Alto to an 11-1 season-opening victory over Menlo-Atherton. Junior Brittany Stankovic made her varsity debut with three RBI. Christie Corey pitched a complete-game two-hitter for the Vikings.
In another nonleague game, Menlo (3-1) romped to a 15-6 win over visiting Sacred Heart Prep (0-3) as junior Ryan McCann tossed a complete-game six-hitter for the Knights. Senior Anna Wipler had three hits while senior Alex Oceguera produced two hits and three RBI.
Swimming
The Sacred Heart Prep boys and girls improved to 2-0 in dual meets with victories over visiting Menlo on Tuesday.
The boys splashed to a 98-72 triumph as Kameron Flores-Maxfield swam on two winning relays in addition to winning the 200 IM in 2:04.97 and 100 breast in 1:01.56. Freshman Ricky Navarro continued his early season success for SHP by winning the 500 free in 4:54.80, among the best in the CCS, and swimming on two winning relays. Travis Read won the 100 fly in 55.00 and 100 back in a fast 58.37 to pace Menlo.
In the girls' meet, Sacred Heart Prep swam away with an 85-83 win - but just barely. Menlo had a chance to win the meet by taking first and third in the final 400 free relay. The Knights won the race in 3:51.23, but their second relay squad took fourth. That was enough to give SHP the win.
Sacred Heart Prep will host the Serra Relays on Saturday at 9 a.m.
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