Publication Date: Wednesday, July 20, 2005
BASEBALL ROUNDUP
Legion teams are playing for survival
Legion teams are playing for survival
(July 20, 2005) by Keith Peters
The Palo Alto and Redwood City American Legion baseball teams have the opportunity this week to keep their seasons alive.
No more than one squad, however, will be playing next week.
Both teams are entered in the Area 2 Tournament, a double-elimination event that got under way Tuesday and continues through Saturday, at Baylands Athletic Center.
The Redwood City Post 105 Blues, featuring players from Menlo School and Woodside High, opened their quest for a title on Tuesday against Danville. The Blues are seeded third after finishing 12-4 in league, while Danville is the No. 6 seed.
The winner of that gave meets two-time defending champion San Mateo on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Palo Alto Post 375, which finished second behind San Mateo with a 13-3 league mark, opens Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner between San Bruno and Half Moon Bay.
Wednesday's winners will face each other Thursday at 7 p.m., while Tuesday's losers will face the Wednesday afternoon losers that evening at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The championship game is Saturday at 1 p.m., with a challenge game (if necessary) set for 4 p.m.
Tim Goode, manager of the Blues, says there is no clear-cut favorite this week.
"San Mateo is the two-time defending champion and Palo Alto seems to have more pitching," Goode said, "but there's nobody overpowering. There's no obvious favorite."
Redwood City's chances would have been stronger had not the Blues lost Menlo grad and pitching ace Chuck Huggins to tightness in his left (throwing) arm. Huggins, along with Andy Suiter, led Menlo to the 2004 CCS Division III championship. Suiter pitched only one game for RC.
The Blues, nonetheless, tuned up for the tournament by going 5-0 in their final five games. Doug Hansen hit a three-run homer and Rob McAdams hit a two-run homer to beat San Bruno. In a doubleheader sweep of San Jose (12-10 and 8-2) on Saturday, Bret Hart had three hits and four RBI in the opener while Jason Powell contributed three hits in the nightcap with Hart adding two more RBI.
Hansen, who caught the opener, pitched all nine innings of the nightcap and helped himself with an RBI triple.
In American Legion B action:
Andrew Preimesberger went 4-for-4, scored three times and played flawless defense to lead the Menlo Park Bears a 20-hit, 14-2 victory over visiting Los Altos in the opener of a doubleheader Saturday at Menlo College.
Los Altos, led by hard-throwing right-hander Eric Johnson, rebounded to take the second game, 7-4.
In the opener, Menlo Park broke open a 1-1 game in the fourth by scoring three times, then piled it on with five runs each in the fifth and sixth innings
off three Los Altos pitchers. Preimesberger, the Bears' left fielder who also pitched a scoreless seventh inning, scored in the third, fourth and fifth innings after doubling and ripping two singles.
Other key hits included a two-run double and run-scoring triple by Brian Roby, a pair of run-scoring singles by Joe Cain, and a run-scoring double by Cody West. Cain, Skylar Brewer, and Dan Johnston each had three hits for Menlo Park.
Semipro
The Palo Alto Oaks had their 33-game winning streak snapped when they dropped a 10-0 decision to Fontanetti's in the first game of a doubleheader Sunday in Western Baseball Association action at Baylands.
Palo Alto pitchers uncharacteristically walked 12 batters in the first
game. Combined with the four-hit pitching of Fontanetti's and the two-year streak was over. Palo Alto High grad Colby Henard suffered his first pitching loss in an Oaks' uniform in three years.
The Oaks, however, bounced back quickly to post a 4-1 win in the nightcap. Matt Campbell pitched a complete game two-hitter to avoid the sweep. Sean Scott had two hits for Palo Alto while Vince Gutierrez and Henard each drove in runs.
In two years of facing Fontanetti's, the Oaks have split both series.
Babe Ruth
The Palo Alto 13-year-old all-stars went 2-0 over the weekend in the Northern California State Tournament in Antioch.
Palo Alto played host Antioch on Tuesday night, with the winner advancing to Thursday's championship game. A loss on Tuesday means an extra game Wednesday.
On Saturday, Palo Alto defeated District 3 champion Concord, 15-8.
Palo Alto scored in each inning except for the third. Colin Byrne, TJ Braff,
and Jeff Keller each had two hits. Pitching was accomplished by committee. Matt Page started but struggled with control and only lasted 1 1/3 innings. Simon Hauser relieved Page and pitched 1 2/3 innings. Jordan Spradlin pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings to pick up the win. Scott Witte pitched the final two innings.
On Sunday, Palo Alto pinned an 8-6 defeat on District 5 champion Fremont.
Byrne hit two two-run doubles (4 RBI total) and also pitched the final 3 2/3 innings to pick up the win. Wade Hauser started the game, but he was not able to finish the fourth inning.
Wade Hauser and Joc Pederson each had two hits. Spradlin led the way with three hits and scored two runs. Pederson (in centerfield) and Alex Baloff (at first base) each made superb defensive plays.
Little League
The finest season in Menlo-Atherton Little League history ended in the championship game of the District 52 11-12 all-star tournament last Thursday in Pacifica.
Defending champion Hillsborough posted a 7-1 victory, limiting M-A to just four hits. Austin Hume and Tommy Cummings each had doubles for M-A.
The Los Altos/Los Altos Hills all-stars captured the District 44 Juniors championship with a 6-3 victory over Cupertino American at Los Altos High.
The champs move on to the Section 5 Tournament in San Jose, and will open Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Branham Hills Little League field. The winner of this tourney will advance to the state tournament in Roseville.
Matt Bowden was the winning pitcher for Los Altos, limiting Cupertino to just four hits over 6 1/3 innings. He struck out seven.
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