Errors haunt Titans
By at AAU Nationals,
By Pete Borello / Town Crier Staff Writer
It wasn’t the ending they had hoped for, but at least the West Bay Titans capped the Amateur Athletic Union under-16 National Championships with a win.
In the game for seventh place, the local club baseball team beat the New England Lightning 8-2 Aug. 1 in Detroit.
The Titans — who placed second at last year’s event — aspired to finish higher than seventh, especially after their fast start.
“We were 5-0 to start and everyone was thinking highly about our chances to play for the gold,” said Titans head coach Dave Salter, whose team outscored its opponents 22-5 during the winning streak. “But then we had a little letdown defensively against the South Shore Seadogs.”
Titan errors proved costly against the Seadogs of Massachusetts, which went on to win 13-3.
After bouncing back with a victory over the Georgia Fighting Squirrels to qualify for the championship round, the Titans suffered another setback. West Bay once again proved error-prone and the East Cobb Astros took advantage in an 11-5 win.
“We kept making errors,” said West Bay’s Will Evenson, entering his junior year at Mountain View High. “I think maybe the pressure got to us.”
The Astros, from Georgia, went on to win the national title, while the Titans had to settle for placing no better than seventh.
By defeating the Lightning later that day, West Bay finished with a 7-3 record. Evenson was one of the stars of the seventh-place game, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Alex Galli of St. Francis High and Ryan McDermott of Gunn High also had two hits each. Kurt De La Rosa (Woodside High) pitched a five-hitter to notch the win.
Mountain View High players Erik Davis and Joe Hatasaki also played integral roles for the Titans during the tournament.
Davis pitched in two games, posting a 1-0 record and a 2.62 ERA. He logged eight innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs. The senior would likely have pitched more, but he had to leave a day early for the Area Code Games — a showcase tournament in Long Beach.
Hatasaki pitched twice, going 1-1. The sophomore pitched a complete game three-hit shutout in a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Blaze in pool play.
Hatasaki also made some great diving catches in center field, according to Salter.
Another local sophomore, Los Altos High’s Michael Peterson, “played stellar defense” at first base, the coach said.
Galli, a junior at St. Francis, hit .308 for the tournament, while McDermott batted .269 and drove in four runs.
Evenson finished with a .276 batting average and seven RBIs.
Evanson and Salter both said they hope the 13-member team stays together for another run at the national title next year, this time in the under-18 division.
“There’s a lot of talent on this team,” Salter said. “They all could be college players.”
