SOFTBALL: Los Gatos Spoils League Opener for Paly

Los Gatos 5, Palo Alto 2

 The Star: Los Gatos senior pitcher Kelsey Shain pitched 4.2 innings of strong ball allowing only one earned run while striking out three batters. After a shaky second inning allowing two unforced errors and one Palo Alto run, Shain settled down in a big way. The hurler showed poise by retiring eight straight batters at one point and letting her defense take care of the rest in the field.

Wildcats seniors Sarah Van Belleghem and Sammi Ridgeway both drove in a pair of RBIs in a wild fifth inning that turned out to be all Los Gatos needed to win the Santa Clara Valley De Anza Division opener for both teams.

 Turning Point: With Palo Alto (1-5, 0-1 De Anza) ahead 1-0 in the top of the third, a strong pitching performance from Vikings senior pitcher Grace Stafford was wounded  by some costly unforced errors. Los Gatos (6-2, 1-0 De Anza) loaded the bases with no outs before Van Belleghem stepped up to the plate and looped a two-run double to right field.  On the very next at bat, Ridgeway scorched a two-run single of her own towards left field that cleared the bases and put Palo Alto down 4-1 in a matter of minutes. Los Gatos added one more score off a wild pitch to cap off the five run outburst in the third.

 The Quotes: “I felt like I was still pitching the way I normally do---and I just felt like if they (Vikings) hit, my defense is behind me,” said Shain after trailing 1-0 in the first two Innings. “We have a solid defense and we played really well today.”

 “The third inning is the kind of team that we have,” said Wildcats coach Al Perino on his thoughts about their five-run burst in the third inning. “Credit to Palo Alto for holding us down---because generally we have a very good defense and a lot of hitters. We weren’t on form with our hitting except for that one inning so credit to them.”

“Grace Stafford did a really good job on the mound for us today pitching,” said Vikings coach Tim Anderson on his pitcher’s performance and outlook on the game. “We let up five runs in one inning and the other six innings they didn’t score. I definitely think we need to work on our hitting—that’s been our strength and today we took many pitches and weren’t aggressive enough offensively and that needs to improve and it will.”

 Vikings pitcher Stafford pitched a complete game allowing three earned runs on 70 pitches.

 What’s Next: Palo Alto will host Santa Clara next Thursday (3/24), while Los Gatos heads to Mountain View next Tuesday (3/22).

 Bottom Line: If Los Gatos can produce the run support they did in the third Inning consistently, they will be a force to be reckoned with in the De Anza League. These two teams will meet up again in Los Gatos on April 21.

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 LG  0 0 5 0 0 0 0 – 5 4 2

 PA   1 0 0 0 1 0 0 – 2 3 2

 WP: Shain (4-0)  LP: Stafford (0-3)

 Records: Palo Alto (1-5, 0-1 De Anza)  Los Gatos (5-2, 1-0 De Anza)