By Craig Wentz
Town Crier Correspondent
Prep Baseball Wrap Up
After a successful and entertaining regular season of high school baseball, three area teams now turn their attention toward the Central Coast Section playoffs.
Los Altos, St. Francis and Gunn highs open CCS play this week, with each team knowing it must play its best ball of the year to move on.
Los Altos (15-14), which finished second in the SCVAL El Camino Division, squeezed into the 16-team Division II playoffs as the No. 12 seed. The Eagles begin the playoffs at No. 5 Santa Cruz (20-5) in a game scheduled for 4 p.m., Thursday.
The winner advances to the quarterfinals at 4 p.m., Saturday, against either No. 4 Willow Glen (20-4) or No. 13 Burlingame (15-11) at Santa Clara’s Washington Park.
Gunn (17-5) nabbed the No. 3 seed in Division II after a stellar season that saw the Titans finish second in the SCVAL De Anza Division. Gunn battles No. 14 South San Francisco (19-5) at 3 p.m., Thursday, at Baylands Athletic Center in Palo Alto.
A victory on Thursday pushes Gunn into the quarterfinals at 7 p.m., Saturday, against either No. 6 Westmont (16-10) or No. 11 Palma (12-9) at Washington Park.
St. Francis (19-9-1) earned the No. 9 seed in the 16-team Division I field and plays at No. 8 Salinas (15-12) at 4 p.m., Wednesday. A Lancers’ triumph moves them into the quarterfinals at 7 p.m., Saturday, against either top seed Wilcox (24-3) or No. 16 Overfelt (16-5) at Santa Clara University’s Buck Shaw Stadium.
Los Altos ended the regular season last week with a much-needed 5-4 El Camino Division triumph at Palo Alto. Starter Wes Battle earned the win. Offensively, Ronnie Remmel slugged a homer and had two RBIs in two hits, while Thomas Roux hit a pair of doubles.
Gunn closed out the regular season last Friday with a 5-3 win over Cupertino in De Anza Division action at Baylands.
Jon Dishotsky earned the complete-game win, upping his pitching record to an impressive 4-0.
Jeff Zweig and Nick Tanaka registered four and three hits, respectively for Gunn and Greg Matson drove in a run with a triple.
St. Francis lost in the second-round of the WCAL playoffs last week, but did record a 4-2 win over Sacred Heart Cathedral in opening-round play.
Adam Turrey (7-1) sparkled from the mound against Sacred Heart to pick up the victory. He was assisted by a double and two RBIs off the bat of teammate Dan Nava.
Mountain View (5-13 division) finished the season with a wild 13-12 triumph over visiting Homestead in an SCVAL El Camino Division finale last Thursday.
Homestead leaped out to a seemingly comfortable 12-5 advantage after three innings, only to witness the Spartans tally seven runs in the fifth inning en route to the victory.
Tristan Shuman (2-0) earned the win for Mountain View. Kevin Hsu and Gordon Pendergrass had four and three hits, respectively. Pendergrass drove home four runs for the Spartans, which racked up 16 hits.
