Los Gatos girls lacrosse team remains undefeated
The Los Gatos High School girls lacrosse team has been highly successful since Tes Hayton took over the program in 2017.
This season, the Wildcats continue their outstanding play with an undefeated record entering this week. They were ranked third in the Central Coast Section and 23rd in the state, according to Maxpreps.com.
“This team has a lot of really skillful stickwork,” Hayton said. “This team is really gelling, for sure. … There are 12 people on the field, and every single one of them on the field is part of the win.”
Last season, Los Gatos reached the semifinals of the inaugural Central Coast Section tournament and finished with an 11-3 overall record. Los Gatos has a 73-8-1 record since 2017 and has won the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League title each full season since then (in 2020, Los Gatos was 1-0 in the SCVAL before league play was canceled that year due to the coronavirus pandemic).
This season, the Wildcats are 11-0 overall and 8-0 in the SCVAL. Last week, they absolutely dominated their two opponents, beating Saratoga 11-3 and Wilcox 24-1.
The Wildcats have 10 players with starting experience from past seasons. All of their regular starters this season are either juniors or seniors.
Los Gatos' midfielders, which include regular starters Jackie Enns, Alex Evans and Natasha Evenden, have a lot of responsibility, as they have to learn all the offensive and defensive plays.
The Wildcats' defenders, who have allowed only 50 goals in 11 games this season (an average of 4.5 goals per game), includes regular starters Katherine Brezoczky, Lizzy Yu, Tessa Dennon, Lily Brennan and goalkeeper Maddie Holloway .
Los Gatos has scored 188 goals this season, a very impressive average of 17.1 goals per game. The team's attack players include regular starters Lucy Holland, Sam Elliott, Keira Dodd and Katy Cerrito.
Although this year's record
doesn't show it, Hayton said that the missed 2020 season and partial 2021 season were really tough on the program.
“It affected it a lot,” said Hayton, who pointed out the missed years of development and that the CCS tournament was during the summer break last year (June 9-17), when most of the Los Gatos starters were away from the area.
Los Gatos' goals this season are to win the SCVAL again and “to go as far as possible in CCS,” Hayton said. Hayton has an extensive
lacrosse history, including playing for the South Australia under-16 teams in 1993-94, and also represented Australia as a member of an association team in 1994.
Softball
Los Gatos High School won the Los Gatos-saratoga Tournament, finishing undefeated in it with an 11-2 victory over Monterey on April 9.
Addie Payne slammed a solo home run and was 2 for 3 with two runs scored for the Wildcats, who improved
to 16-2 overall with the victory. Anna Bean also had a home run and produced two RBI for the Wildcats, and teammate Sara Sharma had a double, a run scored and three RBI. Sara Martin had a double and two RBI for Los Gatos, which scored four runs in the fourth inning and seven runs in the sixth inning.
In their first game on April 9, the Wildcats scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning on their way to a 9-5 victory over Pioneer. Bean was 2 for 4 with three RBI, and Payne had two hits, including a double, and a run scored. Lynsey Chiala was 1 for 4 with two RBI, and Martin was 2 for 2, including a double, with an RBI for the Wildcats.
Los Gatos improved to 6-0 in SCVAL De Anza Division play with a 3-0 victory over host Milpitas on April 6. Bean pitched a two-hit shutout with nine strikeouts and also went 2 for 4 at the plate with a solo home run. Teammate Sree Sareday also drove in a run in the victory.
Baseball
Los Gatos High School swept Cupertino last week to improve to 5-3 in SCVAL De Anza Division action.
In the opener on April 6, host Los Gatos scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 3-3 tie. Drew Dillehay had a triple and a double, two runs scored and two RBI in the game for the Wildcats. Teammate Jake Boyd had a triple and two RBI, and Nathan Bae scored a run and drove in a run for Los Gatos. Jaden Mena had a double and two runs scored in the victory.
Then last Friday, the Wildcats scored six runs in the top of the second inning on their way to an 8-1 win. Boyd and Seth Kvamme combined for a six-hitter on the mound, and Boyd also had a double and an RBI. Teammate Carter Johnstone had a triple, a run scored and an RBI. Nick Temple was 2 for 3 with two runs scored in the victory.
Los Gatos fell to 10-9 overall with an 11-1 nonleague loss to host Aptos on Saturday. The Wildcats scored their run in the top of the first inning on an RBI by Kaito Haake. Anthony Decker added a double for Los Gatos.