Baseball titles Baseball titles (May 11, 2005)for the taking

Gunn, Menlo and Sacred Heart Prep can earn CCS berths with division crowns

by Keith Peters

Three more victories will give the Gunn High baseball team the SCVAL El Camino Division title and a berth into the Central Coast Section playoffs.

Two more wins will give the Menlo baseball team the PAL Ocean Division crown and a berth into the CCS playoffs.

One more victory will give the Sacred Heart Prep baseball team the Private Schools Athletic League championship and a trip to the postseason.

It can all happen this week, weather permitting, of course.

All three teams put themselves in title-clinching position with big victories last Friday.

Gunn (11-4, 14-6) beat first place Santa Clara (12-5) last week to take over sole possession of the top spot by a half-game. The second victory was a 2-1 squeaker on Friday at Gunn.

The Titans still need to beat Fremont (Tuesday) and Homestead (Thursday) and likely need to makeup a rainout with Lynbrook from last week. If Gunn plays like it did against Santa Clara last week, it's a done deal.

In Friday's win, Santa Clara's Carlos Hernandez stuck out 12 but Gunn sophomore Tucker Laurence tossed a three-hit gem. Senior Ryan McDermott's two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth was the game-winner.

Santa Clara held a 1-0 lead and had a runner on third with no out in the top of the sixth. With the infield in, Laurence got out of the jam on a ground ball to first, a groundout to third and a popout to shortstop.

That set the stage for McDermott, who followed Laurence's second hit of the game. After attempting a drag bunt, McDermott ripped the next pitch over the 321-foot sign in center field.

On Saturday, Alex Zeglin had four hits, Laurence had three and five pitchers combined to no-hit visiting Latino College Prep in a 16-0 romp that gave Gunn two points toward a possible CCS seeding.

In the PAL Ocean Division, senior Andy Suiter struck out 12 as Menlo (8-4, 16-12) moved into a three-way tie for first place with a 7-0 win over co-leader Capuchino.

Ryan Cavan's bases-clearing double highlighted a seven-run fifth inning for Menlo, which hosts Aragon (8-4) on Wednesday (3:15 p.m.) in a game to eliminate one of the three co-leaders.

In the PSAL, Sacred Heart Prep (10-1, 15-9) can wrap up the league title by beating host Redwood Christian on Wednesday. The Gators hold a two-game lead over King's Academy with two to play.

SHP swept a doubleheader from Pinewood last week, 16-6 and 14-1, to set up the title-clinching game this week. The Gators also beat San Mateo, 12-3, Saturday in a nonleague game. J.R. Horsley had three hits and Tommy Pierson drove in three runs to spark the Gators.

In the SCVAL De Anza Division, Palo Alto (10-6, 14.3-11) bounced back from two tough losses to rout Mountain View on Saturday, 19-4. The victory clinched third place and an automatic CCS berth for the Vikings. Paly followed that up with a 3-2 win over Milpitas on Monday.

Against Mountain View, Seniors Matt Wismann and Nathan Ford slammed home runs, with Ford and junior Andrew White each driving in four runs and Wismann finishing with three hits.

In the PAL Bay Division, Menlo-Atherton (6-7, 10-16) edged Terra Nova on Monday in nine innings, 5-4, as Domenic Di Ricco and Skylar Brewer hit home runs. On Friday, Grant Stevenson twirled a two-hit gem as the Bears posted a 1-0 win over Terra Nova.
Girls lacrosse

Gunn had little time to celebrate their first-ever PAL regular-season championship as the Titans (14-0, 15-0) played host to Castilleja on Tuesday in the PAL playoff semifinals.

Gunn closed out its perfect regular season last week with a 9-7 win over Woodside as Maggie Wynn scored five goals and Kate Kosco added two. The PAL championship match is Saturday.

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