Los Altos Town Crier » Los Altos remains winless in baseball

By Greg Hancock

Image from article Los Altos remains winless in baseball

Roy Johnson/special to the Town Crier
Los Altos reliever Isaac Wilhelm struck out six Saturday.

That first win of the season still eludes the Los Altos High baseball team.

The Eagles lost 10-4 to visiting Monterey Saturday in the Brother Wally Ryan Tournament, despite out-hitting their opponent 11-9. Los Altos was done in by walks and a huge second inning by the Toreadores (5-2) on a cold and blustery day.

It was a strange game for Los Altos (0-3-2). The Eagles were twice robbed of singles, signifying how things have gone for them thus far in 2006.

Los Altos third baseman Erik Johnson led off the second inning with a base hit. Danny Young then lined a ball that appeared to be another hit. However, Monterey right fielder Travis Elder came up firing to second base to get Johnson out.

Elder’s strong arm came into play again the next inning. Devin Matthews led off with a solid shot to right field, but Elder rifled the ball to first base to throw Matthews out by two steps.

A disastrous second inning put the Eagles in a big hole. Leading 2-1 going into the inning, Los Altos starting pitcher Connor Smith, struck out the first Monterey hitter before things went south. The next six Toreadores reached base and all of them scored before Eagles head coach Sandy Wihtol pulled Smith.

Smith’s undoing was walking four batters, three of whom came in to score. When the inning mercifully ended for Los Altos, Monterey had sent 11 batters to the plate, scored seven runs and held a commanding 8-2 lead.

Isaac Wilhelm came in from shortstop to replace Smith on the mound. He held the Toreadores at bay while his team chipped away at the lead. The junior walked two batters and struck out six in 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

“I was just trying to have (Monterey) put the ball in play,” Wilhelm said.

The Eagles scored twice in the third inning - runs driven in by Rob Falconer and Johnson, respectively - to reduce the deficit to 8-4. This would be as close as Los Altos would get, though.

Five of Los Altos’ starting players recorded two hits eac Kyle Tachibana went 2-for-4 with two doubles; Jason Craine was 2-for-4 with two singles; Wilhelm had two singles and an RBI; Falconer was 2-for-4 with an RBI; and Johnson added two singles and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

Although inclement weather postponed this game from Friday and the conditions were less than ideal Saturday afternoon, Wilhelm wouldn’t go as far as blaming Mother Nature for his team’s slow start.

“The weather hasn’t affected anything for us,” he said.

With their bats heating up and the pitching staff of Smith, Johnson and Wilhelm expected to round into form, the Eagles may still emerge as a force in the SCVAL El Camino Division.

“I think we have a pretty good team this year,” Wilhelm said. “We’re getting to know each other a little bit better, and we’ll come out winning soon.”