Even if the Los Gatos High softball team doesn’t repeat as Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division champions this season, there’s a nice silver lining that awaits: a more favorable path to a Central Coast Section playoff championship.
Placed in the vaunted Open Division last season, the Wildcats had to play a tough Aragon-San Mateo squad and lost, 8-0. However, if they don’t end up winning the De Anza this year, they’ll most likely be placed in the Division II or III bracket once the field is announced on the evening of May 15.
Los Gatos saw its repeat title bid take a hit amid a host of physical and mental errors in a 3-2 loss to Milpitas on April 27. That dropped the Wildcats to 6-3 in division play, while league-leader Milpitas improved to 8-2. Wilcox entered the week in second at 6-2.
However, if Los Gatos wins out and Wilcox beats Milpitas in the league-finale on May 11, those three teams could finish in a three-way tie for the championship. However things shake out, Wildcats coach Randy Frey is intent on getting the team’s hitting back in rhythm.
Los Gatos was limited to five hits in the Milpitas game and has scored a grand total of five runs in its three league defeats.
“We’ve shown earlier in the year we can hit, so I don’t know what to attribute the drought to right now,” Frey said. “But we have to get it back before CCS. We have to figure out a way to score some runs. … Instead of hitting off a machine [in practice], we’ll hit off live pitching or something. We need to do something. If we can get to the point where we can score five or six runs, I think we’re going to be really hard to beat. And we have the talent to do it.”
That’s because the Wildcats have one of the best players in the area in senior Anna Bean. Despite taking the loss on record, the Los Gatos ace was strong in the circle yet again. She scattered five hits over her full six innings, allowing three runs but just one earned.
The senior right-hander does a nice job of hitting her spots and has a high velocity fastball. She’s also the team’s most potent power hitter, ranking in the top three on the team in every key statistical offensive category, including hits, RBIs and slugging percentage.
Bean is also the only player on the team who has hit a home run this season, with three. Freshman shortstop Grace Tucker was hitting a team-best .370 with eight stolen bases entering the Milpitas contest, Sydney Bacheller had a .475 on-base percentage and leadoff hitter Alexa Musser had five doubles.
Frey said he was pleased with the comeback efforts of players like Addie Sorto and Annika Norquist, who were both hitting around .100 through the first 10 games before turning it on. Sorto went 2-for-3 with a walk vs. Milpitas.
“Now she’s over .300 and has really been coming along hitting the ball,” Frey said.
A physical team, Los Gatos will no doubt be a major player come playoff time, especially if it’s slotted into the Division II or III bracket.
