By Andy Drukarev

Los Altos High’s Evan De Jarnette, above, steals third base Friday against Wilcox. It’s as close as the host Eagles would get to scoring in a game Wilcox won 6-0.

Less than a year after winning the Central Coast Section Division II championship, the Los Altos High baseball team has found winning league games more difficult than anticipated.

Los Altos on Friday lost its fourth consecutive SCVAL De Anza Division game. The Eagles’ 6-0 home loss to Wilcox marked the second time in their last four games they’ve been shut out. Los Altos managed only three hits Friday and advanced just one base runner as far as third base.

“We got beaten by a much better team,” said Los Altos head coach Sandy Wihtol, whose team fell to 2-4 in the division and 6-5 overall. “We’re not playing at the level I think we all expected to be playing.”

The Eagles lost six everyday starters from last year’s CCS title team, which has contributed to the large drop in offensive production. They have totaled only four runs during the losing streak.

The Eagles have had to rely on their potent pitching staff even more than expected to stay in games. Friday, that task fell to Erik Johnson, who joined the team late after playing on the school basketball team.

Despite showing signs of rust, Johnson kept the Eagles in the game. He allowed four runs in his 5 1/3 innings of work, two of which crossed the plate after he departed from the game.

“From a pitching perspective, only giving up a couple runs – that’s all he should have to do for us,” Los Altos catcher Danny Young said. “We have to put runs on the board to win games – and we’re not doing that right now – so he did his job.”

The Eagles’ best chance to do that came in the bottom of the third inning. Second baseman Evan De Jarnette legged out an infield single and advanced to second and third on a steal and a wild pitch, respectively, but was stranded there when Bryan Macomber popped out.

Other than that, the Eagles were shut down by Wilcox pitcher Kyle Barraclough, who kept their bats quiet with pinpoint control and an effective variety of fastballs and breaking pitches.

“He pitched very well,” Wihtol said. “I can’t take anything away from him. He went right at us; he pitched a heck of a game.”

Barraclough got all the offensive support he would need when Wilcox scored its first run of the game in the second inning, on a Trevor Scott RBI double.

The Chargers, who improved to 6-0 in the division, added a run in the fourth when Scott singled to centerfield, and two in both the sixth and seventh innings to go up 6-0. Barraclough retired Los Altos in order in the seventh inning to end it.

“We have to recoup and get ready to finish the last two-thirds of league strong to get ready for those playoffs,” Wihtol said.

The Eagles also lost to Wilcox March 19 in Santa Clara, 14-1. Starter Robert Cave took the loss.

Los Altos is scheduled to visit Palo Alto at 3:30 p.m. today.