Los Gatos shuts out St. Ignatius

With runners leading away from first and second and nobody out in the fourth, Lucas Carlisle missed two straight bunt attempts. Both left him shaking his head and clearly mumbling a few words under his breath.

“The first pitch I wanted to lay down a drag bunt, but I just lost it in those trees,” Carlisle said. “Second pitch, same pitch. A curveball. I lost it again.”

The wind might always be flying out at Fairmont Park, the visually attractive home of the St. Ignatius Wildcats, but Carlisle says the dozens of tall, blowing trees far beyond the batter’s eye in straightaway center field are a distraction, making it his least favorite venue to play.

Down 1-2 in the count, it looked bleak against St. Ignatius lefty Chase Gordon, but Carlisle prevailed by depositing a laser into the left-center field gap for a run-scoring double — a swing that produced the only run in a 1-0 Los Gatos victory over St. Ignatius.

“It's a tough backdrop,” Carlisle said. “It's really gray with all the clouds. But I ended up getting a good pitch to hit. He threw me that fastball and I got it.”

Los Gatos was scuffling against Gordon until Carlisle broke through with the eventual game-winning hit but stayed competitive with a strong outing by junior Ethan Williams, who fired five shutout innings with five strikeouts.

While St. Ignatius Prep managed four hits and a walk against the right-hander, Williams was still efficient enough to rack up quick outs and leave several hitters on base. It was an outing they needed, said Los Gatos coach Mike Minkel.

“He is a strike thrower,” Minkel said. “He pounds the zone and throws any pitch in any count for a strike. He does a great job of understanding that.”

The Archer Horn Experience on the mound lived up to the hype as St. Ignatius Prep's right-hander threw three innings in relief while striking out six. A high-velocity fastball was complemented by a sharp-biting off-speed pitch in his team’s losing effort.

Things We Liked

• Zach Biller is a pest atop the lineup for Los Gatos – difficult to exterminate. He recorded the first hit of the game in the fourth — a perfectly-place drag bunt up the first base line that Gordon assumed would roll foul but died two feet fair. He walked and stole a base, too. There’s quite a bit of scrappiness to his game. “He's very observant with everything that's going on,” Minkel said. “He takes his at-bats, learns from them and carries that into the next one.”.
• Horn has a cannon. Carlisle’s run-scoring double could’ve driven in a second runner from first, but the junior shortstop’s relay throw to the plate was an absolute seed from shallow left-center that nailed Brady Simon. A nice tag by catcher AJ Wineinger finished the job.
•   Wildcats vs Wildcats. Every now and then these matchups happen, and they’re difficult to write about.

Play of the Game

This game might’ve had a different outcome if Los Gatos catcher Rowen Smith didn’t catch Horn stealing at second to retire the side in the third. Not only was the throw on the money, it beat Horn to the bag by a bunch.

He Said It

“I enjoy these games a lot because we're playing good teams and we're all getting better out here. It's just the end goal. I think just the adrenaline kind of helps,” Ethan Williams, Los Gatos pitcher

 Up Next

Los Gatos returns to play on Wednesday at Leland — a tough place to play as a visitor, Minkel says. St. Ignatius Prep (2-2-2) will be taking on Menlo-Atherton at home on the same day.

-- Steven Rissotto

W: Williams. L: Gordon. S: Golino. 2B- Carlisle (LG).

Woodside 16, Santa Clara 6

Three weeks into the season, the Woodside bats came alive in a big way and recorded their first win against a quality opponent.

The Bruins entered the contest unbeaten. They opened the season by winning three games to win the Ted Tamone Memorial Tournament at MacDonald High. In the championship game, they rallied to walk off The King's Academy, 8-6.

There was no late-inning magic in this one. The Wildcats (2-3) made sure by delivering their biggest offensive showing of the season.

The top five hitters in the Wildcats batting order recorded 14 hits and accounted four 13 runs scored as Woodside pounded out a season-high 18 hits against the Bruins at MacDonald High.

Hunter Taylor had four hits, and drove in three runs to lead Woodside, while Jeremiah Arias Torres, Cruz Torres and Anderson Comfort had three hits each.

Cruz Torres and Comfort drove in three runs each, while Arias Torres had two RBI.

W: Hohl. L: Sanchez. 4 hits- Taylor (W). 3 hits- Arias Torres (W), Torres (W), Comfort (W). 3 RBI- Torres (W), Comfort (W). 2 RBI-
Arias Torres (W). 3B- Comfort (W). 2B- Ball (W), Perez (W).

Mitty 5, Menlo-Atherton 4

The Monarchs scored all the runs they would need in the second inning. The five-run uprising chased hard-throwing right-hander Wes Peterson and proved to be enough.

But it wasn't easy. The Bears scratched away at the deficit with runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

Mitty's big second inning came after two fielder errors to start the inning. With runners on second and third, Peterson uncorked a wild pitch to tie the game at 1. Tyler Manago walked and a sacrifice bunt by Cooper Salter gave the Monarchs a 2-1 lead.

Andres Lopez-Monsivais singled in another run to make it 3-1. Consecutive walks to Waylon Walsh and Derek Allen loaded the bases and Grayson Munoz delivered with a base hit that Will Roberts knocked down to keep on the infield.

A Felix Chang base hit plated the run that made it 5-1.

MJ Ellazar drove in two runs for the Bears, while Roberts singled and stole second before eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning.

A Jimmy Zaharias single scored Ryder Kelly, who led off the fifth inning with a double that cut the score to 5-4.

Mitty (5-2) opens the WCAL season on Tuesday.

W: Seeger L: Peterson. S: Saunderland. 2 hits- Munoz (M), Zaharias (MA) 2 RBI- Ellezar (MA). 2B- Kelly (MA).

Casa Grande 4, Sacred Heart Cathedral 1

The Irish's venture to Petaluma proved costly as the Gauchos remained unbeaten by snapping Sacred Heart's four-game winning streak.

Sacred Heart had its chances, pounding out nine hits in the contest. Jeremy Marquez had three hits, while Quinn Middleton, Tedford Lewis and Tyler Hurley had two hits each.

The Irish (5-2) will travel to Vacaville on Thursday.

W: Laubsher. L: Vines. S: Mercado. 3 hits- Marquez (SHC).
2 hits- Middleton (SHC), Lewis (SHC). Hurley (SHC). 2 RBI- Bugbee (CG)2B- Middleton (SHC).

Cardinal Newman 1, Valley Christian 0

It would be hard to blame the Warriors' first loss of the season on pitching. Kole Laubach and Brock Ketelsen allowed just three hits, while striking out 11 batters – just the second earned run Valley Christian had allowed this season.

Opponents are hitting .139 against Valley Christian this year.

Give credit to Cardinal Newman right-hander Josh Jannicelli, who like Laubach is a UC-Santa Barbara commit, held the Warriors without a hit for the first five innings and finished with a two-hit 96-pitch shutout that was highlighted by 10 strikeouts.

John Diatte tinkered with his lineup for this one by moving sophomore Colton Hadfield into the two hole, making Hunter Fujimoto the leadoff hitter and pushing Ketelsen down to the five spot in the batting order.

It made little difference in this one. Jannicelli was dominant. He allowed just a first-inning walk to Hadfield over the first five frames.

Laubach escaped a first inning two-on, no out jam with a pickoff at second base, but in the third, the Cardinals (3-2) plated the game's only run when Jack Pezzolo – the victim of Laubach's first inning pickoff – led off with a base hit up the middle.

He moved all the way to third on Chase Bromstad's single to right field and scored on Jamie Volaitis' sacrifice fly to medium-deep right field.

The Warriors (6-1) will open the WCAL season on Tuesday at Saint Francis (6-2).

W: Jannicelli. L: Laubach. 2 hits- Pezzolo (CN).

Aptos 6, Menlo School 1

The Knights fell to 2-4 with the loss. Their only bright spot was freshman Liam Widner's two-hit game that included a double.

Cole McGillicuddy had three hits and a couple RBI for Aptos, which won for the first time this season.

W: Yager. L: Salama. 3 hits- McGillicuddy. 2 hits- Garcia (A), Yager (A), Widner (MS). 2 RBI- McGillicuddy (A). Castillo (A), Work (A). 2B- Widner (MS).

Carlmont 4, Aragon 1

The Scots broke a 1-1 tie by scoring three runs in the top of the sixth inning to make a winner out of Jonathan Fong, who came out of the bullpen to pitch effectively.

"I'm always ready to do and help my team," said Fong, who threw four scoreless innings.

The win came at a good time for Carlmont, which was reeling after dropping a game to Half Moon Bay earlier in the week. Coach Ryan Hamilton said a chalk talk helped set his team in the right direction.

Grant Goetz led off the sixth with a double. Levi Wellman walked, and Goetz moved to third on Johnny Dunne's fly ball to deep right. Wellman stole second base putting runners on second and third.

Luke Tofigh then gave Carlmont (4-3) the lead for good with a single down the right field line that scored both runners.

"It felt really great to get the big hit," he said.

Following a balk and a stolen base, Tofigh scored on Fong's sacrifice fly.

W: Fong. L: Kane. 2 hits- Goetz (C), O'Driscoll (C). 2 RBI- L. Tofigh (C). 2B- O'Driscoll (C), Goetz (C).