By Vince Liu

Last Thursday was Seniors Appreciation Day for the Mountain View High baseball team, and its coaching brain trust had a dilemma: how much playing time to dole out to its seniors in the regular-season finale against Saratoga that had major playoff ramifications.

While the Spartans had enough Central Coast Section power points to have locked up a playoff berth before the contest, the Falcons needed the win to help their chances of making the postseason tournament.

The coaches decided not to shortchange the seniors on the field and at the plate while throwing their pitching ace at Saratoga.

The Mountain View seniors showed their appreciation with some memorable performances. Saratoga showed its appreciation by shellacking the host 14-6.

The Falcons completed a three-game sweep of the Spartans and tied Mountain View for second place in the SCVAL El Camino Division. Both teams ended the season with 12-6 league records.

For the six seniors, it was a bittersweet final home game. Despite suffering the worst loss of the season, they finished the game in grand style.

Senior Tristan Shuman, who has been relegated to a reserve role due to lingering football injuries, took the mound in the top of the last inning for the first time this season — and probably the last time in his high school career. As the chant “Shu, Shu, let’s go Shu” resonated from the dugout, Shuman responded with a perfect inning. The dugout emptied to greet him as if he had just pitched a no-hitter.

Senior Tyler Dyson, at the bottom of the same inning, patiently drew a one-out walk despite his team being down 11 runs. As the chant resumed with “Schonnie, Schonnie,” senior Paul Schonhardt promptly singled to put two men on base.

By this time, the rhythmic cry of “Toddie, Toddie” began to reach a feverish pitch. Senior Todd Frassetti, as if on cue, crunched an opposite-field drive over the left field fence for a dramatic three-run homer. He was greeted at the home plate by the entire team as if he had just hit a game-winning home run.

Senior Jeff Schwan prevented the lopsided score from reaching football proportions with two brilliant defensive plays. With men on second and third and two out in the top of the first, the second baseman made a twisting catch of a pop fly in short right to save two runs. Three innings later with the bases loaded, two outs and the game still hanging in the balance, he short-hopped a hard smash at second and threw out the batter to end the threat.

For senior Matt Means, it was a fitting culmination of a MVP-like season. He had three hits, including a triple and a double, and finished the season batting .400. The lefthander leads the Spartans pitching staff with a 7-0 record and an ERA of 1.07. Means is likely to draw the starting assignment for Thursday’s CCS Division II opener, pitting No. 13 Mountain View (21-6 overall) at No. 4 Westmont (19-6). Game time is set for 4 p.m.

In between the pregame ceremonies honoring the seniors, who were escorted by their parents, and the memorable seventh inning, it was a forgettable game for Mountain View. Its ace righthander Erik Davis gave up six runs but deserved a better fate as four errors behind him made five of those runs unearned.

Seldom-used pitcher Steve Cortinas, lobbying for more work on the mound after a breakout midseason tournament pitching performance, got more than he bargained for. He got lit up for eight runs on seven hits and issued five walks in the sixth. He didn’t retire a single batter in the inning, with all three outs made on the base paths.

It was poetic justice that Shuman sailed through the last inning three-up and three-down despite an aching pitching elbow. A standout pitcher last year, he was unable to regain his form this season, nursing two football stingers in his shoulder.

“It’s a good windup,” said a subdued Shuman after the game. “This feels like old times.”

His teammate of three years, Frassetti, was more outspoken.

“He knew he wouldn’t get much playing time, and yet he practiced hard and never used his injuries as an excuse,” Frassetti said. “He waited his turn and shone; today he showed the team he’s back.”

The tribute to Shuman continued from freshman Joe Hatasaki, who made a spectacular over-the-shoulder running catch in centerfield to preserve Shuman’s perfect inning.

“This is big for Shu; he’s been hurt all season,” Hatasaki said. “The last inning of the season and he shut ‘em down.”

Despite the sour ending, Mountain View hit a milestone. The Spartans reached the 20-win plateau for the first time in school history and will make their first playoff appearance since 1989 when they captured the league title.

Athletic director Dan Navarro called this breakout year the culmination of three years of rebuilding through some good frosh-soph teams. He also credited the enthusiasm of the first-year coaching staff of Jake Schwartzberg (head coach), Steve Espinoza and Brady Austin for much of the team’ success.

“They displayed a lot of energy and prepared the kids well,” Navarro said. “They tried to include the parents a lot and instilled a winning attitude. The selection committee made a very good choice.”