Sergio Uze and Nathan Nakamitsu combined to toss a no-hitter at visiting Lynbrook in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s El Camino Division opener for both teams, an 8-1 Titans victory Thursday.
Mike Panitchipakdi had two hits and drove in three runs for the Titans (3-4, 1-0), who host Menlo School in a nonleague game Saturday at 11 a.m.
The Vikings scored in the top of the first on a walk, sacrifice bunt, a steal of third and an error on Uze, the only error made by Gunn all day.
Lynbrook’s scorer ruled it a hit but did not give a RBI on the play. No matter. The home book is official and a win by any other name still counts in the standings.
Uze lowered his ERA to 1.62 after allowing the unearned run over his five innings. He’s allowed three earned runs in 13 innings.
Nakamitsu allowed 10 runs, six earned, in his first four innings of work this season before coming on to slam the door in the Vikings’ faces, striking out three in two scoreless innings.
Gunn broke the ice with four runs in the bottom of the third. The Titans loaded the bases with no outs on a Ryan So single, a walk to Cole Mantovani and a Nakamitsu single.
Uze singled to plate the first run and Panitchipakdi’s misplayed grounder, in which he was awarded a RBI since the run would have scored either way, allowed the second run to score. Marvin Li walked to force home another run and Shiva Bucklin hit a sacrifice fly.
Panitchipakdi also drove in runs in the fourth and sixth.
Girls lacrosse
Audrey Koren scored four goals, Leiney Paul added a pair and Menlo-Atherton edged host St. Francis, 9-8, in a West Catholic Athletic League game Thursday.
Samantha Jeffrey, Theresa McGannon and Annie Payne also scored for the Bears (3-2, 3-1), who host Burlingame at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Kiko Stanton and Ashleigh Ricci each scored twice for the Lancers (1-5, 0-4).
M-A scored the game’s first five goals, three from Koren. St. Francis rallied to tie the game before Koren scored again to make it 6-5 at halftime.
The Bears opened a 9-6 edge, though the Lancers rallied to within a singe goal despite being down two players to five yellow cards.
Bea Geaghan-Breiner and Hannah Shaw forced key ground balls and were successful in draw controls to keep the Bears afloat.
In another league game, Castilleja beat host Burlingame, 10-8, in which Taylor DeGroff recorded five goals and Olivia Watson added three. Anika Adzich and DeGross each had three draw controls and Anika Tse made saves.
Castilleja (3-4, 1-2) hosts Mitty in a WCAL match Tuesday at El Camino Park. Game time is slated for 4 p.m.
Track and field
The Menlo track and field team defied wet, windy conditions to shine in the West Bay Athletic League opener at Bellarmine College Prep on Thursday.
Sophomore Michelle Louie won the 100, 200 and ran legs in the winning relay teams. In the 100, Louie won in 13.27 and senior Electa Narasin took second in 13.86. In the 200. Louie crossed the line first in 27.38 and junior Lauren Hamilton was next in 27.86.
Both relay teams won with the 4×100 of sophomore Aava Saffarnia, Hamilton, Louie and Narasin finishing in 51.95. The all-sophomore 4×400 team of Charlotte Tomkinson, Louie, Charlotte Lee and Kyra Pretre won with a time of 4:25.84.
Alexandra Chan doubled, taking the 100 hurdles in 15.94 while fellow junior Grace King was second in 18.31. Menlo swept the top three spots of the 300 hurdles with Chan in first in 47.43, Narasin in 52.33 and Lee in 52.76.
Tomkinson grabbed first in the 400 in 1:00.47 with Pretre securing second in 1:03.00. Maeia Makoni, also a sophomore was first in shot put with a mark of 28-2 and was second in discus (75-7).
Freshman Marisa Castagna was second in the 800 (2:34.20) and sophomore Katie Aufricht third (2:35.63) .
Eastside Prep’s Jose Munoz highlighted action on the boys side, winning the 400 in 53.99 while teammate Ivan Carrillo was third in 55.73.
Menlo’s Morgan Wyatt won the triple jump with a mark of 33-0. Sophomore Ayinde Olukotun was second in the 100 in 12.11 and ran a leg on the 4×400 – with sophomore Jackson Aldrich, junior Alejandro Ross and senior Robert Miranda – which took second in 3:49.14. Seniors Ryan Thompson and Keeton Martin took second and third in the high jump, clearing 4-10 and 4-8, respectively.
Darby Felter swept the hurdles and Louis Passarello won the shot put in Palo Alto’s 80 1/2-40 1/2 dual meet loss to host Los Altos on Thursday.
Felter edged teammate Phillip Ericsson, 16.26-16.40, in the 110 hurdles.
Los Altos also won the girls meet, 72-45, though the Vikings were a little more competitive, winning four events.
Julia Doubson (5:46.27) and Andrea Chandler (5:48.55) went 1-2 in the 1,600 and the Paly girls swept the 3,200 behind Miranda Jimenez, Doubson and Zoe Douglas.
Adee Newman went 48.22 in winning the 300 hurdles and Emma Johnson won the shot put.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
The St. Francis/MA game was an example of how an adult can contribute to the dangerous dynamics of girl’s lax. There were four yellow cards and ultimately a red card against St. Francis for dangerous play (head slashes, dangerous shot) and each time the coach stood on the sidelines and argued audibly with the refs. Ironically, the dangerous calls were the only time she argued with the refs. What message does it send when there is a penalty for dangerous play and the coach argues for it to be called back? It certainly has the potential to create a dangerous team approach to the game as well as a team disregard for their opponents’ safety. Not accepting that a play was dangerous, despite there being a hurt player on the field, also suggests that it is better to hurt another player than to lose. I hope, in this game where balls are incredibly hard and sticks swing hard and no one wears a helmet, that we can work to protect all of our daughters’ safety. In the end, and at the beginning, they are our children and they are precious. Their brains and bodies working are far more important that a W on the scoreboard.