By Andy Drukarev
 R. Alan Hwang/Special to the Town Crier Ryan Mohr of the Post 558 Bears slides safely into second base. |
The Los Altos American Legion Post 558 Hawks didn’t have the start they envisioned.
The Hawks, a team of 19-and-under baseball players from six Bay Area high schools and De Anza College clawed and fluttered their way to a 0-5 start. The five losses weren’t exactly nail-biters, either. The Hawks were outscored by a total of 48-15.
But the sixth game may have turned the Hawks’ season around two weeks ago. The Hawks beat Burlingame 10-1 behind what head coach Todd Branon called “a beautiful game” from starting pitcher John Austin. The St. Francis High graduate and team leader struck out 10 batters.
The win proved what Branon believed about his team: that the Hawks never lost sight of what it takes to be successful.
“If you play the game of baseball right and you play together as a team, you’re going to win games,” he said.
Like the Hawks, the Bears, Post 558’s 17-and-under team, struggled in the beginning of the season. The Bears lost their first four games by a combined 40 runs. With the leagues 10-run mercy rule, it would have been difficult for the team to perform any worse. But through the shutouts, no-hitters and 10-run losses, head coach Ben Lewis and his team persevered.
One day after blowing a six-run lead to San Mateo, the Bears got into the win column. St. Francis sophomore Michael Chavez pitched a two-run complete game. With two outs in the top of the seventh inning, St. Francis’ Andrew Moore singled to center to give the Bears a 3-2 win that Lewis called “stunning.”
“Our team did not quit,” the coach said.
The key word for Lewis was “team.” The coach doesn’t focus on individual efforts. Ask Lewis who the team’s leading hitter is and he probably wouldn’t be able to tell you. Through the highs and the lows, Coach Lewis makes sure “they (the players) play together as a team, win as a team and lose as a team.”
The Bears and Hawks play home games at Los Altos High. The Hawks are slated to host Half Moon Bay at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. At the same time, the Bears face Cupertino at Monta Vista High.
