By Pete Borello

Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier

As Gerri Baldwin described players on the Los Altos High field hockey team, one word kept coming up: “awesome.”

The Eagles coach couldn’t help but gush about her team, which returns four all-league players and features two promising newcomers.

“This is probably the most talent I’ve had,” said Baldwin, who’s been coaching at Los Altos for 10 years. “The only team that compares to it was the one that won CCS in ‘96.”

Baldwin wouldn’t go as far as saying this year’s squad can duplicate the efforts of the Eagles’ last Central Coast Section championship team, though.

“I think we’ll do really well, but it’s too early to say how well,” she said. “We have to take it one game at a time. I know they have a lot of ability, but now it’s a matter of playing up to that ability.”

All but three starters are back from last year’s 10-6-3 team, which finished second in the Blossom Valley Athletic League West Valley Division and lost to Lynbrook in the opening round of the playoffs.

Guiding the Eagles are all-leaguers Kelsey Alloo, Jeanette Hayman, Stephanie Costa and Kristin Herrera.

Senior Alloo is “a great team leader who knows where she needs to be and has great stick work,” Baldwin said. Hayman - voted the division’s Most Valuable Sophomore a year ago - “has improved a lot,” according to the coach. Both players honed their skills in the offseason by playing club field hockey and in the Futures program.

Another player on the rise is Costa, who entered this week as the team’s leading scorer.

“She is really coming on this year,” Baldwin said. “She’s been great on the front line.”

The coach said returning starters Erin Reddy, Chrissy Sommer, Ciera Kash and Lisa Battle also have played key roles in Los Altos’ 4-1-1 start.

Then there are new players Jooske DeGroot and Emily Jo Bowler, recent arrivals from Europe. DeGroot, a freshman from Holland, “was born with a stick in her hand,” Baldwin said, and England native Bowler is “a real gritty player who doesn’t give up.”

Along with these two midfielders, the Eagles also have a new player in goal. Actually, they have two new players, as sophomores Shannon Haley and Jessica Cruz have been sharing goalie duties. Both girls are getting better every day, according to Baldwin.

While Los Altos has a plethora of able players, Baldwin said the team’s biggest strength is its unity.

“They all get along really well and all have a common goal to do well and win,” she said.

Baldwin has an eye on making the playoffs for the third consecutive year, which would require finishing among the top three teams in its division.

The Eagles are no longer in the lower West Valley Division, though; the BVAL elevated them to the middle Santa Teresa Division this season with the likes of Del Mar, Prospect and St. Ignatius.

Los Altos, which opened division play last Friday with a 2-1 home win over St. Ignatius, hosts Del Mar at 3 p.m. today.