Palo Alto halts Gators win streak

Sacred Heart Prep saw its 12-game winning streak – the third longest in school history – come to an end on Saturday as Palo Alto bounced back from a Friday loss to Los Altos with a strong offensive performance.

The Vikings have been one of the Peninsula's hotter teams in the second half as well. Since getting off to a slow start to the season, they have put it together to climb into second place in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League-De Anza Division.

On Saturday, they put together an 11-hit attack to beat the Gators, 8-6. Prep is coming off a sweep of San Mateo, which put it in the driver's seat to a PAL-Ocean Division championship.

Justin Fung led the Vikings with three hits and two RBI, while Albert Pellizzari had two hits, including a home run, and drove in two runs.

Sophomore Michael Wu had two hits, while Greg Lee drove in two runs for Palo Alto, which will host Wilcox on Wednesday in an important De Anza Division contest.

Drew Parker had two hits for the Gators, while Dane Bochnowski, Colin Beim and JP Durrett drove in two runs each.

W: Johnson | L: Larson | 3 hits- Fung (PA). 2 hits- Parker (SHP, Wu (PA), Pellizzari (PA). 2 RBI- Beim (SHP), Durrett (SHP), Lee (PA), Fung (PA), Pellizzari (PA). HR- Pellizzari (PA). 2B- Durrett (SHP), Lee (PA), Fung (PA).

Carlmont 3, Hillsdale 2, 9 innings

Carlmont climbed back to .500 with an extra-inning victory at Oracle Park.

The Scots scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth when Connor Chow led off by getting hit by a pitch. He stole second and moved to third on a perfectly placed bunt-single down the third-base line by Caden Stinson.

The Knights walked Mikey Nishikawa to load the bases and Ryan Attard followed with a grounder up the middle against a drawn-in infield that was knocked down but couldn't keep Chow from scoring the decisive run.

Lefty Ryan Kelly threw three innings of relief to pick up the win. It was his first high-leverage outing of the season and could make a difference for the Scots down the stretch.

"Ryan was huge," said Carlmont coach Ryan Hamilton. "He's battled back from injuries all season, so it was a tough season for him mentally. For him to answer the bell like that says a lot about who he is as a competitor and person."

Carlmont, which finds itself very much alive for a CCS invitation, will take on Burlingame in a series that begins Wednesday at Washington Park.

"We are a young confident group that keeps getting better," Hamilton said. "We have learned how to win close games, which makes us dangerous heading into the final stretch."

Attard led the Scots with two hits, while Kymani Chamolack, Brayden Lee, Jacob Bonner and Curtis Lee had two hits each for the Knights.

The loss overshadowed a strong pitching effort from Hillsdale's Hugo Guzman, who allowed one hit and one run over six innings. He struck out four but walked five.

W: Kelly | L: Dang | 2 hits- Attard (C), Chamolack, B.Lee. 2 RBI- C.Lee.

Pioneer 8, The King’s Academy 5

The Knights lost their third straight game of the week despite battling back from a 5-0 deficit before allowing three runs in the top of the seventh to Pioneer.

Pioneer scored four runs in the second inning to take a 5-0 lead. The Knights spent the next four innings chipping away at the lead and they tied it with a run in the bottom of the sixth.

Justin Cho and Nate Plata had two hits each for the Knights, while Plata, who had four hits, including three doubles, in Friday's 10-inning loss to Carlmont, added another double.

W: Bright | L: Huff | 2 hits- Cho (TKA), Plata (TKA), Bacon (P), Bermillo (P), Teixiera (P). HR- Bacon (P). 3B- Bermillo (P). 2B- Petersen (TKA), Plata (TKA), Teixiera (P).

Mountain View 13, Aragon 4

The Spartans snapped an eight-game losing streak, by collecting just four hits. Seven defensive errors by the Dons played a big part in the Mountain View's success on Saturday.

Preston Huang pitched four innings, allowing two runs and five hits, to pick up the victory. He walked two and struck out one.

Zander Yocum had a double, while Jackson Blake had two hits for the Spartans.

Aragon got three hits from Nick Mazzola, while Keith Matye had two doubles and Xavier Ruiz drove in a pair of runs.

W: Huang | L: Harris | 3 hits- Mazzola (A). 2 hits- Matye (A). 2 RBI- Blake (MV), Ruiz (A). 2B- Yocum (MV), Matye (A) 2.

Los Altos 2, Gunn 1

The Eagles climbed back to .500 by scoring a walk-off victory in the bottom of the seventh.

Cooper Very's base hit scored Mason Morgan with the winning run.

Mitesh Jain had two hits for Los Altos. Christopher Klinker allowed a run over six innings with seven strikeouts but came away with a no decision. Jonah Altschuler pitched a scoreless seventh to pick up the win.

W: Altschuler | L: Noh | 2 hits- Jain (LA), Lee (G). 3B- Jain.

Sequoia 6, Riordan 5

Morgan Winfield hit his eighth home run of the season and Garrett Johnson added a grand slam as the Ravens snapped a four-game losing streak with a come-from-behind victory.

The Crusaders jumped to a 4-1 lead before Johnson launched his grand slam that gave Sequoia a 5-4 lead. The Crusaders tied it in the bottom of the sixth before the Ravens tallied the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh.

Liam Fong had two hits for Riordan, while Daniel Ordonez drove in a pair of runs.

W: Deitrich | L: Tuman | 2 hits- Fong (R). 4 RBI- Johnson (S). 2 RBI- Ordonez (R). HR- Johnson (S), Winfield (S). 2B- M.Fausto (S), Ordonez (R), Williams (S).

Bellarmine 8, Ann Sobrato 5

After spotting Ann Sobrato a five-run lead, the Bells came roaring back with a seven-run fourth inning to take the lead for good.

Drew McClelland's bases-loaded triple proved to be one of the big hits for the Bells, who collected 12 hits, which allowed them to overcome the early deficit and four defensive errors.

The Bells will be back in action on Tuesday against top-ranked Saint Francis in Mountain View in what is shaping up to be another epic series in the WCAL.

Senior Warren Lam had three hits, while Vincent Kim culminated a big week that saw him homer in each of the games against Mitty with two hits. Dominic Borrelli had two hits for the Bells.

W: Pennington | L: Hagen | 3 hits- Lam (B). 2 hits- Kim (B), Borrelli (B), Bellardes (AS). 3 RBI- McClelland (B). 2 RBI- Flores (AS). 3B- McClelland (B). 2B- Brown (AS).

South San Francisco 7, El Camino 1

Josh Nabung allowed a hit and a walk over six scoreless innings to lift the Warriors to a victory in the battle for South City.

Emelio Oseguera had three hits, including two doubles, for South San Francisco, while Yordonis Medina-Pineda had two hits.

El Camino, which is running away with the PAL-Lake Division, managed just two hits in the contest.

W: Nabung | L: Iniguez | 3 hits- Oseguera (SSF). 2 hits- Medina-Pineda (SSF). 2B- Oseguera (SSF), 2, Nabung (SSF), Tejada (SSF), Medina-Pineda (SSF), Toloso (EC),

Half Moon Bay 5, Scotts Valley 1

Tristan Castro came out of the bullpen to throw five shutout innings. He allowed two hits and struck out five as the Cougars kept the momentum from Friday night's 3-2 walk-off win against Sequoia at Oracle Park with another big win.

Don't look now, but Half Moon Bay continues to find itself in the running for CCS tournament consideration. Season-closing series with Aragon and Terra Nova will go a long way in determining the Cougars' fate.

On Saturday, Riley Jackson, who had the game-winning hit on Friday against Sequoia, collected three hits, while sophomore Paxton Holden had two hits and drove in a pair of runs.

W: Castro | L: Cornish | 3 hits- Jackson (HMB). 2 hits- Holden (HMB). 2 RBI- Holden (HMB). 2B- Smith (SV).

Carmel 4, Menlo-Atherton 0

The Bears ran into a buzzsaw in the Padres, who have now won nine of their last 11 games after holding Menlo-Atherton to six hits.

Kenny Sanchez threw five scoreless innings for Carmel, while Sean Carr had two hits, including a home run, and drove in three runs. Stanford signee Matt Maxon drove in two runs.

Freshman Owen Coupe had two hits for the Bears, who open a Bay Division series at Capuchino on Saturday.

W: Sanchez | L: Brubacher | 3 hits- Carr (C). 2 hits- Ow. Coupe (MA). 2 RBI- Maxon (C). HR- Carr (C). 2B- Lee (MA), Maxon (MA).

Evergreen Valley 4, Wilcox 0

The Chargers saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end. The good news for them is that it came in a non-league game and will likely have little bearing on where they finish.

Sophomore Ethan Hang threw strikes for Evergreen. He allowed just three hits and a walk, while striking out three in a 79-pitch complete game.

W: Hang | L: Raizon Ragbarragan |

Santa Cruz 14, Burlingame 9

The Panthers can be excused for Saturday's setback after winning three Bay Division games in five days to jump into first place in the standings.

Ben Sakal, Dan Sheehan and Preet Mallen had two hits each for Burlingame. Sakal and Mallen drove in two runs each.

The Panthers begin a series on Wednesday against visiting Carlmont.

W: DaCosta | L: MacMillan | 4 hits- Camayio (SC). 3 hits- Sakal (B), Sheehan (B), Mallen (B), fowler (SC), Fusari (SC), Smith (SC). 4 RBI- Mohaded (SC). 2 RBI- Mallen (B), Sakal (SC), Smith (SC), DaCosta (SC). 3B- Fusari (SC). 2B- Mallen (SC), Smith (SC).

San Mateo 7, American 0

The Bearcats got back in the win column after two heartbreaking losses to Sacred Heart Prep, thanks to home runs from Jesus Olivas and Julio Calderon. Each of them had two hits and drove in two runs.

Wilson Morales pitched three innings to pick up the win, while Christian Louie struck out five over the last two innings in relief.

San Mateo will play a series with winless Mills next week as it closes in on a Central Coast Section invitation.

W: Morales | L: Garcia | 2 hits- Olivas (SM), Calderon (SM). 2 RBI- Olivas (SM), Calderon (SM). HR- Olivas (SM), Calderon (SM).

Rancho San Juan 6, Mills 1

Nick Lafon had two hits, including a triple, but it wasn't enough for the Vikings, who dropped a non-league contest to the visiting Trailblazers.

W: Duran | L: Wong | 2 hits- Lafon (M), Solario (RSJ), Sierra (RSJ). 3 RBI- Stockton (RSJ). 3B- Lafon (M).

Head-Royce 10, Terra Nova 4

Down 3-1 after four innings, the Jayhawks' bats came to life over the final three innings. Four runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth did the damage.

The Tigers will play a non-league game against More on Monday before starting a crucial series with Sacred Heart Prep on Tuesday in Atherton.

W: Goldfarb | L: Santamato | 2 hits- Lynch (HR), Gonzalez (HR), Roth (HR), Schrader-Brown (HR). 3 RBI- Schrader-Brown (HR). 2 RBI- Sanger (HR), Roth (HR). 3B- Frost (HR). 2B- Goldfarb (HR), Schrader-Brown (HR).

Cupertino 10, Homestead 0

Will Hsu had three hits, while sophomore Joshua Fraleigh drove in two runs for the Mustangs, who won convincingly.

Drew Hamburger, Howard Cheng and Ivan Hwang had two hits each.

Cheng pitched four scoreless innings. He didn't allow a hit, while walking one and striking out one.

W: Cheng | L: Macer | 3 hits- Hsu (H). 2 hits- Hamburger (H), Cheng (H), Hwang (H) 2 RBI- Fraleigh (H). 2B- Hamburger (H), Hwang (H), Duong (H), Hsu (H).