Publication Date: Friday, April 23, 2004
PREP BASEBALL
Palo Alto is making all the right moves
Palo Alto is making all the right moves
(April 23, 2004) Two big wins this week puts the Vikings in contention to challenge for the SCVAL De Anza Division lead
by Keith Peters
Palo Alto baseball coach Peter Colombo evidently is willing to do whatever it takes to give his team a fighting chance at the SCVAL De Anza Division title. Even if it means driving his scorekeeper crazy.
The seventh inning of the Vikings' 4-3 victory over visiting Los Altos on Wednesday was a perfect example. With the game tied at 3 and the bases loaded for a third time, Colombo made more moves than two chess players.
Relief pitcher Max Pinto was replaced by Jimmy Meuel, who was replaced by Pinto, who was replaced by Meuel. Every time the two pitchers exchanged positions, Colombo made two or three other moves.
"I've never done that before, in my six seasons here," Colombo said. "I'll never do it again."
Never say never. All the moves paid off somehow and Los Altos failed to score as the Pinto and Meuel combo set the Eagles down on a sacrifice bunt, a flyout to center and another to right to end the inning.
Paly junior Matt Wismann set things in motion for the victory by beating out an infield single. He was bunted to second by Russ Hagemann and took third on a wild pitch by Donnie Ecker. When Ecker found the dirt under the glove of catcher Dan Tugaw, Wismann gambled and broke for home - scoring the winning run.
"That's our season in a nutshell," Colombo said. "Every game is close."
And, every game counts. The Vikings' sixth-straight victory moved them into a tie for second place with Los Gatos, both at 9-3. They trail first-place Wilcox (11-1) with six games to play.
Next up for Paly (13-7 overall) is a date today with host Milpitas, which fell to Los Gatos on Wednesday, 10-3.
"If we can win at Milpitas, that's big," Colombo said. "That's a tough place to play. If we can win Friday, we're on our way."
Palo Alto pretty much has one of three automatic berths into the Central Coast Section playoffs locked up. The only question is which one? Colombo believes that if his team can start playing better defensively, the Vikings still have a shot at overtaking Wilcox. Paly visits the Chargers on May 5.
The other key game is the regular-season finale against visiting Los Gatos on May 14. Paly already has beaten the Wildcats twice this season. A third triumph could lock up no worse than second place and a higher CCS seed.
"Once we shore up our defense, we've got a really good shot," Colombo said.
The Vikings certainly have the pitching to get it done. Against Los Altos, starter Jeremy Gillan plus relievers Pinto and Meuel held the visitors to just two hits. In Monday's 7-6 win at Los Gatos, David Stringer pitched a complete-game eight-hitter.
In the two games, however, Palo Alto combined for seven errors.
The Vikings, however, keep finding ways to produce enough runs. Against Los Gatos, Pinto led a 10-hit attack with three hits and drove in three runs. Shane Parsons and Adam Dexter each had two RBI.
Against Los Altos, Hagemann had a pair of RBI while Ryan Greenfield and Bobby Harlan contributed two hits apiece.
"I couldn't be happier," Colombo said of his team's current winning streak. "We're playing better. The guys are working hard. We just have to keep at it."
Menlo School is doing just that in the PAL Lake Division. The Knights (10-0, 16-5) swept a two-game series with Sequoia (6-4) this week and opened up a three-game lead on second-place Mills (6-3) with five games remaining. Wins over Jefferson (3-5) and South San Francisco (1-8) next week will give Menlo no worse than a tie for the division crown.
On Tuesday, Menlo junior Andy Suiter (9-0) tossed a complete-game five-hitter and struck out 12 in a 3-0 win over Sequoia. He has yet to allow an earned run in league play. Suiter has struck out 104 in 61 innings and needs only eight strikeouts in his next game to surpass his own single-season record of 111, accomplished last season in 68 innings. Suiter also is within reach of Menlo's career strikeout record of 309 set by Jimmy Noriega. Suiter currently has 252 career strikeouts.
Jesse Sweet had two hits and Ryan Cavan slammed a run-scoring triple in the fifth to give Suiter all the offense he needed.
On Wednesday, Menlo senior Chuck Huggins (7-1) struck out nine while tossing a complete-game four-hitter to beat visiting Sequoia, 3-2. Pat Robinson drove in Chris Francis with the winning run in the third.
In the PAL Bay Division, Menlo-Atherton's playoffs hopes took a big hit in a 4-1 loss to third-place Terra Nova at Flood Park. The Bears (4-5, 9-11) needed to sweep Terra Nova this week to move back into playoff contention.
Kyle McCabe pitched a complete game for M-A, allowing eight hits while striking out six. Domenic Di Ricco and McCabe each had a pair of hits. Two unearned runs in the fifth ended the Bears' chances.
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