Los Altos slips to 2-3 in league play Los Altos slips to 2-3 in league play (April 09, 2004)

Eagles fall in extra innings

By Colleen Corcoran

"We need some heroes to score some runs right now," said Eagles catcher Lacey Sandborn at the bottom of the seventh inning. The Los Altos varsity softball team was then trailing 2-3 in a game that would eventually end as a 5-3 loss to Monta Vista.

But the only heroics to be found last Friday were during a fourth inning that looked like it could have been the pivot point for an Eagles comeback. Los Altos was down 0-2 when a hit by Ashley Crum and an overthrow by Monta Vista brought Lacey Sandborn home. The score: 1-2. Then Sara Bird's sacrifice bunt followed by Sandra Clark's ground ball to right field brought Crum home. The score: 2-2.

Los Altos seemed to have found its groove after three innings of disappointment, solemnity and relative silence -- pitcher Alyce Jorgensen was averaging two balls for every strike.

The fourth inning was to be but a brief, shining moment.

"We're sticking it out until the end, but it's really hard when not everyone can perform at the plate," said Sandborn. "In our season, we've kind of just been having the same trouble. We can't move runners across the plate. We get hits but we leave runners stranded."

The Eagles would score only once more during the seventh inning. Lisa Serventi hit a ground ball to score Jorgensen, and the game was tied 3-3.

Even when Jorgensen took her energy to the pitching mound in striding long and delivering strikes, Monta Vista was consistently pulling the ball deep down the foul lines and popping base hits into the outfield.

"I wish I was pitching better than I am now, but I can't change it," Jorgensen said. "So I'm trying to do as much as I can and go up there and pitch some strikes, and then if they do hit it, I have the defense behind me."

Los Altos' strongest asset was, in fact, a defense that didn't want to give anything away. But two overthrows and a bobbled ball allowed two Monta Vista runners to score during the ninth inning, the second extra inning. With no redemption for Los Altos in the bottom half, the score was settled at 5-3.

While most of Los Altos' players compete only during the high school season, many Monta Vista players play eleven months out of the year, said Assistant Coach Ted Jorgensen

"They react rather than think. The key [to this game] was that our players are still thinking too much instead of reacting. It's a game of reaction, and whether you're at the plate or whether you're a base runner or whether you're playing defense, you have to react to the ball," he said.

"Until you understand that completely, you tend to see the ball and then think, and that puts you a step behind. As soon as you're a step behind, you're trying to play catch up. You always have to be a step ahead."

The Eagles have a chance to hone their instincts by the end of the season with more game experience but, for now, their record remains 2-3. Monta Vista is 5-1.

E-mail Colleen Corcoran at sports@mv-voice.com

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