By Vincent Liu

It wasn’t that long ago that the Los Altos High baseball team was on a fast track to division dominance with a perfect 9-0 record.

Then it hit a little speed bump and lost three SCVAL El Camino Division games in a row, including back-to-back setbacks to its two closest pursuers on April 26 and 28.

The Eagles appeared spinning out of control — and first place — and badly needed a victory. They got two.

Despite playing three games in four days, Los Altos righted itself the old-fashion way: with hitting and pitching.

After pounding host Homestead 14-6 on April 30, the Eagles rode the three-hit pitching of Greg LaLonde to beat Monta Vista 2-1 the next day at home. The back-to-back victories improved the Eagles’ division record to 11-3 and maintained their one-game lead in the division over Mountain View and Saratoga.

For awhile against Monta Vista last Thursday, it appeared Los Altos might have used up all its ammunition in its previous game. It ran into Monta Vista’s best pitcher and got locked in a tight pitching duel.

With the score knotted at 1 in the bottom of the fifth, the Eagles used a little trickery to break the tie, and perhaps save the season. After Mike Peterson singled to open the inning, Derek Fletcher faked a bunt to draw the infield in and slapped a hit-and-run single up the middle to send Peterson to third. Left-handed designated hitter John Costa then lived up to his role by driving a fastball to medium-deep right for a sacrifice fly to plate what turned out to be the winning run.

“I’m a fastball hitter and I was waiting for one,” Costa said. “I didn’t get all of it.”

His teammate Matt Nippes did, three innings earlier when he slammed a hanging changeup over the leftfield fence for a solo homer to give his team the lead. It was Nippes’ first round-tripper of his high school career.

Starter LaLonde made the two runs stand up with an assortment of off-speed pitches to complement a fastball that consistently painted the low outside corner of the plate for strikes. The junior right-hander (5-3) required only 81 pitches, 57 of them strikes, for his first complete-game win of the season.

“Everything was working for me today,” said LaLonde who called the route-going performance his finest of the season.

LaLonde was in complete control as he walked none and went to the full count only twice. He might have had a shutout had a high fly ball to right center in the top of the third not been misjudged and fell in for a double. The Monta Vista runner eventually scored to tie the contest.

“Small ball wins games,” said head coach Sandy Wihtol, who called the faked bunt hit-and-run by Fletcher the key play of the game. “It was a planned play because I know Derek can do these little things pretty good.”

The small ball was not needed one day earlier when Los Altos pounded out 15 hits against Homestead in its biggest hitting outburst of the season. Junior Donnie Ecker led the hit parade with a home run (his sixth of the year), triple and double, missing hitting for the cycle by a single. He had a season-best five RBIs and also picked up his third pitching victory against no losses.

“I’m seeing the ball good right now,” Ecker said. “We need to stay hot with the bats; that’s our strength.”

Teammate Brian Johnson rapped out four hits including two doubles and drove in three runs. The curve-balling righthander appears to have fully recovered from an ankle injury that had limited his duties on the mound.

With the two wins and a break in the schedule, the Eagles should be well rested for the four remaining league games that will decide their fate in the CCS playoffs. “Playing three games in four days, the team was dragging a little bit,” said Wihtol. “These two wins put us back on track and we should be ready for the stretch drive.”

His players agreed.

“We’re recharged now, and we’ll take first,” said Ecker, showing a confidence shared by several of his teammates after the Monta Vista game.

As far as Wihtol is concerned, taking first place is the only assurance for selection to the Central Coast Section playoffs due to his team’s so-so overall record (14-10).

“We must beat both Mountain View and Saratoga,” he said. “This should be a great finish.”

The Eagles are scheduled to meet the Spartans in their final showdown Thursday at home. The game is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m.