BASEBALL: Palo Alto Headed to CCS Finals

On Monday and Tuesday night, the Palo Alto High baseball team practiced under the lights and faced some heavy heat at the plate.

A Paly assistant coach cranked up the velocity to get his players used to the type of fastball his team would see in their upcoming playoff game.

By the time the first inning of the 2011 Central Coast Section Division I Baseball Semifinal game had concluded, the prep work at practice had already yielded major results.

The Palo Alto offense scored four times in the first inning, jumping out to an early lead and never looked back en route to it’s biggest win of the this season—a 5-2 triumph over No. 2 seed Archbishop Mitty Prep-San Jose on Wednesday night at San Jose Municipal Stadium to advance to Saturday night’s D-I CCS Final against San Benito High.

After a pop out to open the game, Paly No. 2 hitter Christoph Bono singled to right field and then ripped off the first of three steals on the night and took second base. Back-to-back walks by brothers Austin and TJ Braff loaded the bases for slugger Will Glazier.

“During the practices under the lights this week, one of our assistant coaches threw the ball harder than normal,” Bono said. “It definitely prepared us well for what we were going to see tonight. We had a plan and really did a good job of jumping on him ( Brett Fuller) early. We were looking for the fastball.”

Glazier hit a sacrifice to right and after a wild throw got past the catcher at home, Austin Braff raced home as well to put Paly ahead, 2-0.

Another patient at-bat drew a walk, before the biggest plate appearance of the frame led to a pivotal hit.

Second baseman Jack Witte stroked a key two-run RBI single to left to cap off the opening frame surge off Mitty starting pitcher Brett Fuller.

Turns out the big inning would be the only time the Vikings would see the hard throwing right-hander during the semifinal showdown.  

Longtime Mitty head coach Bill Hutton turned to No. 1 starter Tyler Davis to pitch the final six innings.

“I’m speechless,” Paly head coach Erick Raich said after the semifinal victory. “They just competed hard. Our guys had a plan and executed well right from the start. It’s a strong group of seniors on this team. We want to send them out the right way.”

Palo Alto starting pitcher Ben Sneider, the winning pitcher in Saturday’s quarterfinal win over Homestead, took the ball again in the semis and held the potent Mitty offense without a hit through the first three innings of play.

Sneider mixed speeds nicely and even flashed some nice leather to start a double play in the fourth. The Palo Alto defensive brilliance was contagious as usual during the biggest game of the 2011 season. Shortstop Austin Braff threw a laser from deep in the hole to nab a Mitty runner in the third, while defensive replacement Alec Wong gobbled up two tricky ground balls in the sixth to get the Vikings out of the inning unscathed.

Sneider went 4.1 innings before turning the ball over to senior Drake Swezey. Davis, who will be attending the University of Washington in the fall, struck out nine hitters in six innings of relief work for the Monarchs.

“Tyler Davis is one of the best pitchers I’ve ever seen,” Raich said. “He’s got a very bright future ahead of him. I have a lot of respect for Coach Hutton and that program over there. Our pitchers just competed hard in the strike zone and we played great defense tonight.”

Palo Alto lost to Burlingame High 7-4 in the 2010 CCS D-II finals. San Benito defeated Salinas 5-0 in the first semifinal at Muni on Wednesday night.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Palo Alto 4, Archbishop Mitty 0

PA- 4 0 1 0 0 0 0- 5 8 0

AM-0 0 0 1 1 0 0 – 2 8 3

WP: Sneider LP: Fuller