BASEBALL: Monta Vista Falls to Mountain View in Slugfest

Mountain View 10, Monta Vista 6

The Star: Winners of seven straight games coming into a Monday afternoon non-league meeting with , the baseball team simply couldn’t keep Mountain View off the basepaths.

Mountain View finished the non-league matchup against Monta Vista High-Cupertino with 10 hits and added nine more walks to boot. The Spartans also reached twice on errors and had two batters hit by a pitch. In total, Mt. View put over 20 runners on base which resulted in 10 runs popping up on the scoreboard. The success helped Mt. View end a nine-game winless slide, defeating Monta Vista 10-6 on a sunny Monday afternoon at Mt. View High.

Monta Vista got RBI knocks from Grant Manley, Austin Burrow, Zach James and Matt Kelley, but couldn’t keep pace with the sizzling bats from the hosts on this day.

The Turning Point: Monday’s non-league bout was one that most ex-pitchers would probably want to skip taking a peek at the box score. Both sides whacked the baseball all over the yard. Hits, walks and hit batsmen seemed to be contagious, leading towards 16 runs combined. Mt. View (3-10-2, 0-5 De Anza) took a 7-2 advantage into the fifth inning but quickly watched the lead wither away in the afternoon sun.

Monta Vista (8-4, 6-0 El Camino) scored four runs in the fifth and nearly had a few more, leaving a pair of runners on to close of the top half of the frame. Mt. View responded nicely, loading up the bases full of Spartans with two away. Ahead 7-6 at the time, Kang unloaded on an inside fastball to clear the bases and provide his team with some much needed insurance. Kang just missed a grand slam by a few feet. Instead, the slugger settled for a three-run double that put his team ahead 10-6. They would go on to win by the same score.

The Quote: “We left runners on in key situations,” Monta Vista head coach Brian Sullivan said after the game. “Today we just walked too many guys. They got the big hits with runners on base and we didn’t.”

 Monta Vista took two from -Palo Alto last week, improving to a spotless 6-0 in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division.

 “I was very happy to take both games from Gunn, that’s a good team,” Sullivan said. “We just need to protect our backyard. It’s uncharacteristic of our pitchers to walk and hit guys like they did today.”

 What's Next? Monta Vista plays under the lights tonight against Santa Clara High. The SCVAL El Camino matchup will be played at Washington Park in Santa Clara.

Bottom Line: Despite a four-run outburst in the fifth inning, the big inning eluded the visitors for the majority of the afternoon. Manley poked an RBI single to shallow right in the first to plate Nathan Burroughs and open the games scoring. Manley then stole second, but was left stranded after three straight outs. That situation became a problematic trend for the Matadors. Monta Vista scored once in the fourth, but left the bases loaded after a swinging strike three ended the inning. During the four-run fifth, Monta Vista left two aboard once again after slicing the lead to 7-6.

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Mountain View 10, Monta Vista 6

Mt. View 9 0 1 0 2 4 4- 10 10 1

Monta Vista 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 – 6 7 2

WP: Appelgren. LP: Burrow

Records: Mt. View 3-10-2, 0-5 De Anza. Monta Vista 8-4, 6-0 El Camino.