The Santa Clara Valley Athletic League-De Anza title game on Friday turned into a 'Toga party.
That's as in Saratoga, which defeated host Wilcox 6-1 to capture the league playoffs. The Falcons are now league co-champions with Palo Alto, which won the regular-season title.
Saratoga (22-8) was in full celebration mode after the final out, dissolving into a dog pile near the pitcher's mound and then posing for happy team pictures, followed by interviews.
"At the beginning of the season we wrote four things on the board for our goals -- win 20 games, sweep Paly, win league and win CCS," said Falcon third baseman Stephen Ruff. "We swept Paly, we won over 20 games and we just won league and it feels amazing. Everybody contributed from one to nine -- even the guys in the dugout."
Ruff hit his second home run of the season in the sixth inning to boost Saratoga's lead to 5-1 and also had a run-scoring single in the third, but the heroes were many for the Falcons.
Catcher Stevie Berman went 2-for-3 at the plate with a first-inning home run and two RBI and also took the mound in the seventh and blanked Wilcox.
Also, Jacob Marr also went 2-for-3 and scored a run.
Finally, senior pitcher Oliver Parr was stellar, scattering four hits and allowing just one run over six-plus innings.
The victory concluded a grueling two weeks for Saratoga, which swept Palo Alto in a best-of-three playoff series last week then won two consecutive against Wilcox after a tough 2-1 setback to the Chargers to open the series on Tuesday.
"We lost a heartbreaker on Tuesday and came back (Thursday, from a 5-1 sixth-inning deficit)," Parr said. "We got a great dugout and a great team and everybody's always backing up each other and we've bonded so well together. Together, we can go far."
Berman's solo home run in the first inning gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead. It was the 10th of the season for the Santa Clara University-bound star and gave Saratoga an advantage it never surrendered.
"It felt good," Berman said. "We always talk about jumping out and getting the lead, especially when we're away."
Leading 1-0 after Berman's home run, the Falcons added a run in the second on an RBI groundout by Eric Ferguson and two in the third on run-scoring singles by Berman and Ruff.
Wilcox (22-11) moved to within 4-1 in the fifth on Lorenzo Martinez's RBI groundout, but Ruff's shot over the fence in left field returned the momentum to Saratoga.
"Stephen's a great player and a great four-hole batter for us," Berman said. "He's played a great third base for us and is one of the best in our league."
Overall, it was a splendid 48 hours for Saratoga, which rebounded from the one-run loss to Wilcox on Tuesday and a late-game deficit to the Chargers on Thursday to bounce back and nab the title.
"It's a testament to our guys and to our character and our will," Falcons coach Adam Varteressian said. "That Game 1 was a heartbreaking loss in a three-game series but you can't say enough about our resiliency."
The Falcons got a stellar effort from Parr, who pounded the strike zone all game long and kept the Chargers off balance.
"Oh my goodness, Oliver was tremendous for us," Varteressian said. "He's thrown a lot of good innings for us. Not bad for a senior who had to step up there in a do-or-die situation."
Wilcox coach Paul Rosa was disappointed his team couldn't generate more offense.
"We just didn't hit," Rosa said. "Their guy did a good job, but we should score runs. We threw three sophomores today and I thought each one of them pitched well enough to give us a shot to win, but in a Game 3 situation you need to score more runs."
Wilcox will be shooting for a fifth section title as the CCS playoffs begin next week and Saratoga seeks its second.
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John Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@Prep2Prep.com and followed on Twitter @PrepCat
