Young Los Gatos baseball team is finding its way
The Los Gatos High School baseball team is a much different squad than it fielded last year. Sixteen seniors graduated in 2021, including eight starters who are now playing college ball.
But the current Wildcats (4-4) made their way through a very tough preleague schedule before their Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division opener at Santa Clara. The series concludes with a Los Gatos home game against the Bruins today at 4 p.m.
“We have pieces, we have a lot of pieces, we are just going to have growing pains,” Los Gatos coach Justin Oliver said last week. “I expect us to be up there in our division with Palo Alto. … We have tons of talent.”
The Wildcats, which include five sophomores who have started this year, are gaining that experience. They ended their pre-league season with a 10-3 victory over Leland on March 12.
“They worked hard in the offseason. … It's a really close group of guys,” said Oliver about his team.
Against host Leland, the Wildcats scored three runs in the fifth inning and four in the sixth to take control. Carter Johnstone, a sophomore, continued his fine play with three hits at five at-bats, including a double, with a run scored and an RBI. Kurt Beckmann, a senior, was 2 for 2 with three RBI. Kaito Haake, a senior, was 2 for 4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. Sebastian Buller, a junior, added a double. Senior Nick Temple was 2 for 4, including a double, with three runs scored and an RBI.
In the pre-league season, seven of the eight teams Los Gatos faced were Central
Coast Section playoff teams, including three Division I squads (St. Francis-mountain View, Serrasan Mateo and Valley Christian-san Jose, which was the champion). Leigh, the Division IV champ, and Division IV finalist Palma were also on Los Gatos' schedule.
“We have the hardest schedule in CCS,” Oliver said.
Johnstone, a shortstop who is part of a sophomore tandem up the middle with second baseman Santino Nanez, is batting .462 through the first eight games with six runs scored and team leads in hits (12), RBI (nine) and doubles (five). Drew Dillehay, a third baseman, is batting .407 with a team-leading 11 runs scored along with 11 hits, including four doubles. The junior also has a team-high six stolen bases.
Other Wildcats with a batting average above .350 who have played eight games include right fielder Jaden Mena (.412) and left fielder Alejandro Quijada (.391), the team's leadoff hitter. Quijada, Haake and sophomore catcher Anthony Andrews lead the team with five walks.
Haake has a team-high 17 1/3 innings pitched with 12 strikeouts and a 2.83 earned run average. Spencer Burg, a sophomore reliever, is 2-0 with eight strikeouts in 10 innings pitched. The team's other wins have come from juniors Massimo Richiuso and Seth Kvamme.
Against visiting Leigh on Friday, Los Gatos fell behind 2-0 in the top of the first inning, and although the Wildcats scored two runs in both the third and fifth innings, they fell 7-4 to the Longhorns.
Dillehay was 2 for 4 at the plate with two runs scored and three stolen bases. Temple
was 2 for 3 with an RBI, and Mena was also 2 for 3. Johnstone was 1 for 3 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. Haake drove in the team's final run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. For Leigh, James Bose was 3 for 3 with two doubles and two RBI. Teammates Nate Miller and Brian Kim also had two RBI apiece.
On March 8, Los Gatos fell 8-2 to Valley Christian. Jake Boyd was 1 for 3 with an RBI. Quijada added a double and a run scored for the Wildcats.
Softball
Los Gatos High School started its season with three wins last week, in which the Wildcats scored at least four runs in all of them.
In a 7-6 victory over visiting Branham, the Wildcats scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to win. Sara Sharma was 3 for 4 with a home run, a run scored, and two RBI for Los Gatos. Teammate Avery Di Gangi was 2 for 5 with a double and two RBI. Anna Bean also had two hits, and a run scored, for the Wildcats.
Bean and Lynsey Chiala combined for a twohit shutout in a 4-0 victory over Westmont on March 9. Bean pitched five innings of one-hit ball with two strikeouts, and Chiala handled the other two innings, allowing only one hit also. Bean also slammed a home run and drove in two. Di Gangi and Sharma contributed the team's other runs-batted-in.
Los Gatos opened the season with a 4-3 win over Leigh on March 8. Chiala pitched four innings of shutout ball with eight strikeouts and only one walk. Bean smashed a solo home run, and Sharma was 2 for 3 with an RBI in the victory.