By Vincent Liu

Town Crier Correspondent

Prep Baseball Report

Lancers lose at Serra

Serra scored all its runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to beat St. Francis 12-9 Friday.

The loss dropped the Lancers (6-4, 22-6) into fourth place in the West Catholic Athletic League, while Serra (7-3, 20-7) secured sole possession of third.

Manan Mehta had three RBIs for St. Francis, which scored all its runs in the top of the fourth.

Starting pitcher Alex Perkins took the loss, dropping his record to 6-1.

Paly stops Spartans

Los Altos High’s drive for a playoff berth hit a skid last Saturday when it played the role of a generous host and literally threw away a 4-3 decision to Lynbrook in a SCVAL El Camino Division baseball game.

Four throwing errors in the final two innings let in three unearned runs that prevented the Eagles from sweeping the season’s three-game series against a team they handily beat 9-5 two days earlier.

The disheartening loss also snapped a three-game winning streak by a Los Altos team that had been on a roll lately, having won five of its last six league games prior to Saturday.

Protecting a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning, Matt Nippes, the Eagles’ third pitcher of the game, gave up a bloop double when center fielder Thomas Roux just missed making a diving catch. Nippes seemed to have pitched out of trouble after he got two quick outs when his infield unraveled.

On a routine grounder, the shortstop overthrew first base for what should have been the third out of the inning. The first baseman retrieved the ball and threw it past second base into the outfield, allowing one run to score.

On the next batter, the third baseman threw another grounder into the dirt for a third consecutive error, and the tying run came home.

As painful as those three errant throws were, the next one cost Los Altos (7-6, 12-13) the game in the top of the seventh inning. With one out and a runner at first, Nippes’ wild pick-off attempt skidded into right field, allowing the runner to reach third and eventually score what turned out to be the winning run on an ensuing single.

The Eagles caught some early breaks in the game and seemed to be on their way to a win.

They scored two runs in the first inning, aided by two passed balls by the Vikings’ backup catcher who was pressed into duty when the regular catcher showed up late and was ineligible to play. Two apparent blown calls by the umpire, who was working alone, at home and third base in the top of the fourth inning took away two potential runs for Lynbrook (3-10, 6-13).

In retrospect, Los Altos may have lost the game in the bottom of the fifth when the heart of its batting order stranded runners at second and third with no outs. James White, who went the distance for Lynbrook, pitched out of the jam by striking out two of the next three Eagles he retired.

Despite the scoring opportunities they missed and all the errors they made, the Eagles still had a chance to send the game into extra innings. Roux, the team’s fastest runner and leading hitter at .540, led off the bottom of the seventh with a single. In an obvious running situation, Roux did not get a good jump on a steal attempt and got gunned down by Lynbrook’s catcher, who atoned for his two passed balls with a perfect throw.

All told, Los Altos committed six errors.

“In crunch times, my players did not play fundamental baseball,” said a calm but disappointed Los Altos coach Sandy Wihtol. “They made all these throwing errors because they didn’t set their feet on the ground.”

The loss dealt a severe blow to the Eagles’ outside chance to make the Central Coast Section playoffs, but Wihtol refused to throw in the towel.

“By no means we’re out of contention, but we must win four out of the next five games to have a shot at it,” Wihtol said.

While the coach’s attitude may be politically correct, the odds seem to be stacked against his team. The Eagles’ five remaining league games include two against runaway division leader Palo Alto and one vs. second-place Santa Clara.

Mountain View proved no match for El Camino Division leader Palo Alto Thursday, falling 7-3.

The visiting Spartans (7-6, 12-9) were outhit 12-4.

Starting pitcher Brian Simoni took the loss.