AUSTIN YU
Prep2Prep Junior Editor

May 7, 2013

Despite a tough one-run loss for the Monta Vista baseball team against Lynbrook the previous day, the Matadors were able to rebound and win 12-5 on Thursday at Monta Vista.

The game started with solid and consistent batting and lackluster pitching from the Vikings. After two walks, senior Peter Stern drove in senior Kendall Yamuchi and senior Spencer Rodrigues drove in senior Drew Granzella. A sacrifice fly by senior Brian Kearns scored Stern and gave the Matadors an early 3-0 lead.

Unlike Wednesday, the Matadors were able to hold onto their lead by scoring five runs in the second, two in the third, and two more runs in the sixth.

The Vikings scored two runs in the fourth inning off of an error-inducing single by sophomore Greg Lerner and again in the seventh inning off of a triple by senior Chris Ma and an infield single by senior Gabe Rosales, but could not score enough runs to make up for the deficit.

The concept of winning individual innings has become a focal point for the Matadors.

"Win innings basically means going up and putting runs up on the board every inning. If we score one more run every inning than the other team in a seven-inning game, it doesn't matter what the final total is, we'll win,” Matador coach Mike Velasco said.

Sophomore relief pitcher Sheldon McClelland shined for Monta Vista.

"We look forward to having him for the next few years," Velasco said. "He's got good poise and has good command of three or four different pitches. With the loss of Peter Stern and Spencer Rodrigues as they graduate this year, we are going to be looking to him more as a leader next year. We are going to be very young next year, but our freshman class is going to be very strong coming up into the varsity program."

Regarding Monta Vista's prospects for the playoffs, Velasco said: "[It’s] complicated. We are battling for second place and in our division, the top two teams go. We are tied with Cupertino and it forces us to win out. We have to beat Milpitas and Los Gatos next week with Los Gatos also beating Cupertino for us to get in. If we lose, we are out.”

The Matadors meet visiting Milpitas on Tuesday and the Vikings will play visiting Fremont.