Gunn wrapped up a league title while Menlo-Atherton and Menlo School both clinched berths in a Central Coast Section regional to highlight a busy day, and week, for local golf teams.
The Titans clinched the SCVAL De Anza Division regular-season crown by defeating host Fremont, 192-207, at Sunnyvale Municipal on Tuesday. Gunn will take a 7-2-2 record into its final match, against Homestead, on Wednesday.
Mountain View finished second with a 7-5 mark while Palo Alto (6-4-1) has wrapped up third with a match remaining.
Gunn took care of Fremont as sophomore Avinash Sharma plus freshmen Anson Cheng and Herbert Sadler-Wong all shot 2-over 37s. They’ll lead the Titans into the SCVAL Championships next Monday and Tuesday at San Juan Oaks in Hollister. The top two teams will qualify for CCS.
Menlo-Atherton qualified for CCS on Tuesday during a playoff with Burlingame and Terra Nova at windy Poplar Creek Golf Course in San Mateo. Carlmont earned the Peninsula Athletic League’s automatic bid to CCS by winning the regular season while M-A was one of four teams that needed to battle for the second berth.
When Aragon was unable to field the required five golfers for the playoffs, that left three teams. The Bears got off to a shaky start but sophomore Matt Tinyo turned in a 2-over 37 from his No. 5 spot in the lineup to help lift the Bears to victory.
With junior Travis Anderson shooting a 1-over 36 and junior Max Culhane adding a 38, Menlo-Atherton shot 196 to hold off Burlingame (200) and Terra Nova (225). M-A senior McKinley Mathon added a 42 and junior David McNamara shot 43 to round out the Bears’ scoring.
Menlo-Atherton next will play as a team in one of two CCS regionals, set for May 10-11 at Rancho Canada in Carmel Valley. The Bears also can qualify individuals out of the PAL Tournament, which offers seven spots to the section regional.
In the WBAL, Menlo School Menlo (9-0) earned no worse than a tie for the division title with a 204-215 victory over host Harker at San Jose Country Club on Tuesday.
The Knights will face second-place Sacred Heart Prep (8-1, 10-1) on Wednesday at Sharon Heights Country Club in a showdown for the division title. Menlo has earned a CCS regional berth because it will finish either alone in first or tied for first.
After starting off with four straight bogeys, Menlo senior Bobby Pender birdied the fifth and sixth holes to earn medalist honors with a 3-over 36. Senior Patrick Grimes shot 39 while sophomore Andrew Buchanan shot 41, junior Jackson Dean had a 42 and junior Will Petit shot 46.
Menlo and Sacred Heart Prep will meet again Monday at the WBAL Championships at Menlo Country Club.
Baseball
Jake Bruml took care of business with his bat and arm while leading Menlo School to a 16-4 romp over visiting Pinewood on Tuesday in West Bay Athletic League action. Bruml took over the CCS lead in RBI as he knocked in four runs. He hit his sixth home run of the season (tying the CCS best) and added a double to Menlo’s 13-hit attack while driving in four runs.
On the mound, Bruml tossed four shutout innings while recording his sixth victory of the season while the Knights improved to 4-1 in league (16-4 overall). Bruml struck out five and allowed just three hits.
Tim Benton had four hits for Menlo, including a home run, while Freddy Avis also homered (his first this season) and drove in four runs with Benton finishing with three. Kamyaar Butt hit his first career homer for Menlo, which visits St. Ignatius for a nonleague game on Wednesday.
In the SCVAL El Camino Division, host Gunn gave up 14 hits to first-place Santa Clara and dropped a 12-1 decision. Ryan Gorman had two hits, one a double, to pace the Titans (4-6, 7-9-1).
Boys’ lacrosse
Menlo School sophomores Wiley Osborne and Nick Schultz proved too much for Palo Alto’s seasoned defense as the Knights stretched out a 6-2 first-half lead for a key 9-6 league win on Tuesday.
Menlo avenged a defeat earlier this season to the Vikings and improved to 7-3 in SCVAL De Anza Division (12-7 overall) while Paly dropped to 5-4 in league (10-5 overall).
Osborne scored three goals, Schultz four, and both attackman had a pair of assists. Menlo scoring was rounded out by juniors Ryan Grzejka and Pete Foster, who tallied a goal apiece.
Although Paly scored within seconds of the opening face-off, Menlo came back with five unanswered goals to take command of the game. Palo Alto won the face-off battle (Viking John Brunett was 11 of 13 for the day), but the offense kept turning over the ball, giving the Knights too many offensive opportunities. Brunett ended up with a goal and two assists for Palo Alto, while Kevin Proceviat notched two, and Zach Spain, Walker Mees, and Cory Valenti got one apiece.
Girls’ lacrosse
Palo Alto’s season continued to gain momentum as the Vikings pulled away in the second half for a 13-8 victory over host Los Gatos in a SCVAL De Anza Division match on Tuesday night.
Tied at 5 at halftime, the Wildcats (5-3, 7-5) won the draw and scored a quick breakaway goal in the first 30 seconds. The Vikings (7-1, 8-7) then scored eight unanswered goals with the final one coming withy 1:30 left to play. Los Gatos tacked on two meaningless goals with less than a minute to play. Charlotte Biffar paced Paly with four goals while Leigh Dairaghi added three.
In nonleague action, senior Kendall Cody poured in six goals and added four assists for a season-high 10 points as Sacred Heart Prep rolled to a 17-12 victory over host Leland on Tuesday. Freshman Caroline Cummings added five goals and three assists for SHP while senior Julia Keller contributed three goals and three assists as the Gators improved to 13-5 heading into Thursday’s West Bay Athletic League showdown with visiting Menlo School (4 p.m.). Goalie Emily Westerfield had 12 saves for SHP, which trails Menlo by just one game.
Softball
Palo Alto ended a recent losing streak as freshman pitcher Julia Saul tossed a four-hitter to pace the Vikings to a 3-0 victory over visiting Fremont in SCVAL De Anza Division action on Tuesday. Senior Anna Gale and freshman Hannah Bundy each had a pair of hits for the Vikings (3-4, 6-12) as Fremont fell to 1-6 in league (5-12 overall).
In the WBAL, Castilleja pulled into a tie with Notre Dame-San Jose after beating the home team, 3-2. Aryana Yee tossed a five-hitter for the Gators (5-2 league) and contributed a pair of singles.
In nonleague action, sophomore Nikki Schwardt had three hits but that was about all Gunn could muster in a 7-0 loss to visiting Santa Teresa, which was coming off winning Pool B of the Charlie Miguel Tournament during the weekend and knocked around Gunn starter Claire Klausner for 11 hits. Klausner had a pair of 14-strikeout games last week.
— Palo Alto Online Sports/Tom Hoglund reporting on Menlo-Paly lacrosse
— Palo Alto Online Sports/Tom Hoglund reporting on Menlo-Paly lacrosse
— Palo Alto Online Sports/Tom Hoglund reporting on Menlo-Paly lacrosse