Los Altos overpowered the opposition in the 2006 season en route to the El Camino Division Championship. Los Altos ended its season with an 18-6-2 record, and several of those wins were the result of late inning, come-from-behind victories.
“We played overall good baseball,” said head coach Sandy Wihtol, “These guys never gave up.”
The Eagles also earned a bid in the Division II CCS tournament as the No. 4 seed. They defeated Santa Cruz in Round One but would lose to Monterey in the following round.
Los Altos was moved down to the lower El Camino Division after a last-place finish in the De Anza Division last year. Due to the team’s sweeping success in 2006, they will return to the upper division next season.
Wihtol attributed the Eagles’ domination to the “Good all-around assortment of players.” The team was led by senior center fielder Mike Peterson and junior catcher Kellen McColl. Peterson started four years for the varsity team, while McColl won the MVP award for the El Camino Division.
This Los Altos team is comprised mostly of young players, with Peterson the only one Wihtol will lose to graduation. Juniors Isaac Wilhelm, Kyle Tachibana and Devin Matthews and sophomore closer Eric Johnson will all play key roles as the team looks to contend amongst tougher competition next season.
St. Francis finished fourth
The Lancers played solid baseball in 2006, finishing in fourth place in the West Catholic Athletic League with a 17-11-2 record.The team advanced to the second round of CCS. After defeating Leigh in Round One, the Lancers were eliminated by Serra High School, the same team that took down Mountain View four days earlier. Bellarmine College Prep was the eventual CCS champion.
“They weren’t necessarily flashy,” athletic director Michael Pilawski said of the St. Francis boys, “but they had great leadership and great comradery among the kids.”
Two of those leaders included catcher Alex Dreyfuss and pitcher Tim Busbin, both seniors and both named first-team all-leaguers. UC Davis-bound Dreyfuss was also selected for the all-CCS team and lead the league with a .581 batting average.
One of the highlights of the Lancer season came in the semifinals of the WCAL tournament, where they overcame a five run deficit in the seventh and final inning to win 9-8 against Bellarmine. Pilawski said of the come-from-behind victory, “It was one of those games where you say ‘This is what this team is all about.'”
Coaching the St. Francis baseball team next year will be former Santa Clara University Assistant Coach Mike Oakland. Oakland has over 10 years of coaching experience, as well as eight as a collegiate and professional athlete. After a stellar college career at California Polytechnic State University, Oakland was drafted by Colorado and spent four years in the Rockies organization.
Mountain View coachless
Mountain View High School wrapped up its baseball season with a 9-15 regular season record. Led by their All-American lefty hurler Joe Hatasaki, the Spartans managed to squeak into the CCS Division I tournament as the No. 16 seed, but were quickly defeated on the road by No. 1 Serra High School.Mountain View endured turmoil near the end of the season when head coach Ray McDonald had a verbal altercation with Hatasaki, and an alleged shoving match with another athlete. The dispute led to the postseason suspension of McDonald, who resigned soon after.
This marked the third straight year of new coaches for MVHS baseball, and it appears that the pattern will continue in 2007. The struggles of the Spartan baseball program could be partially attributed to its coaching inconsistency, and hopefully Mountain View will be able to sign a talented leader for the long term rather than another annual substitute.
E-mail the sports desk at sports@mv-voice.com
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