Stanford baseball
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wrapped up the scoring with a 39 as Paly finished undefeated in league for the second straight season while improving to 34-2 over three years. “I have six guys who could be medalist during any of our rounds,” Knight said. “That has been the difference for us. We have more depth and, yes, balance than the other teams — as least by the scores I have been following for each player from the other teams.” Gunn has been the only threat to Paly this season while compiling a 10-2 record. Adam Fleischman led the Titans on Tuesday and earned co-medalist honors with a season-best 35. Jack Jaffe followed with a 37 and Anson Cheng a 38. Shai Mohan finished with a 40 and Yilei Yu wrapped up the Titans’ scoring with a 43. “I wasn’t concerned about the weather versus Gunn,” Knight said of Tuesday’s showdown. “The guys are adapting so well to the conditions, I think it might have helped us. Now, if we have the same weather at our league tournament . . . I don’t know. We will be ready.” While the match decided the regular-season title, it also was a preview of next week’s league championship tournament, also set for Santa Teresa on Tuesday at 11 a.m. The top two teams will receive automatic berths into a Central Coast Section regional, likely May 6 at Rancho Canada (West) GC in Carmel Valley. “We won it last year,” Knight said of the league tourney. “Hope to do it again this year.” A day after Palo Alto claimed its league title, Sacred Heart Prep captured a share of the West Bay Athletic League title and an automatic berth into a CCS regional with a 199-207 victory over rival Menlo School at Palo Alto Hills Golf & Country Club. The Gators (9-1, 10-1) finished tied with Harker, which defeated Menlo on Tuesday and handed SHP its only loss this season. SHP junior Derek Ackerman led all scorers with a one-birdie, two- bogey round of 1-over 36. Senior Bradley Knox shot 37 with Bradley Keller firing a 39. William Hsieh and Rohin Chandra each shot 39 for Menlo (6-4). Next up for SHP and Menlo will be the WBAL Championship next Wednesday at Eagle Ridge in Gilroy. Because Sacred Heart Prep and Harker already have the league’s two automatic CCS berths, Menlo must apply for an at-large bid.
eight of its first 11 conference games before stabilizing in a series win over Arizona State last weekend. The Menlo School grad singled in the bottom of the ninth to drive in the winning run in Stanford’s 4-3 victory over the Sun Devils in the series opener and followed that a day later by hitting his first home run of the season in a 1-0 win. Those two games were preceded by Diekroeger’s walk-off single in Stanford’s nonconference win over St. Mary’s last week. For those efforts, he was named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week. “It’s my thing. It’s what I do,” Diekroeger said. “I always hope to get into those situations. It’s a lot of fun. Coming up to hit in a tie game, you can’t lose.” Diekroeger currently ranks third on the team with a .286 batting average, behind Palo Alto resident Alex Blandino (.310, with a team-best six home runs and 21 RBI) and Austin Slater (.308, also with 21 RBI). Blandino slammed two homers Wednesday in a 6-2 nonconference win at St. Mary’s. Diekroeger, meanwhile, does more than hitting in helping Stanford’s offense. He’s always one of the team’s top bunters and has produced seven sacrifice hits to go with three sacrifice flies. He’s also four of six in stolen-base attempts and has an on-base percentage of .389. Freshmen pitchers and the return from injury of senior closer A.J. Vanegas have also given the
Baseball Sacred Heart Prep junior Cole March gunned down the tying run at home plate in the seventh inning to secure the Gators’ 9-8 PAL Bay Division baseball win over visiting Menlo School on Wednesday afternoon. The Gators improved to 4-3 (11-7 overall) while the Knights fell to 4-3 (13-7). The loss snapped Menlo’s three game win streak and dropped the Knights into a tie for third place with Sacred Heart Prep. “For us it’s a good win to start of the second half of league,” said Sacred Heart head coach Gregg Franceschi, whose team played at co-leader Terra Nova on Thursday. With runners on first and second base and two outs in the top of the seventh inning, Menlo sophomore Antonio Lopez grounded a single to left field. March played it perfectly and threw out junior Macklan Badger at home plate. March, a junior, also went 4-for-4 with three RBI, including a triple that he smashed to left-center field. On Monday, Erik Amundson hurled a completegame four-hitter with 11 strikeouts as Menlo-Atherton edged host Burlingame, 4-3. The victory allowed the Bears (5-2, 13-7) to take a temporary half-game lead in the division race. Amundson, who now leads the PAL Bay Division in wins (six) and strikeouts (61), walked just two batters while improving his season record to 6-2. For the season, Amundson’s strikeout-to-walk ratio is a superb 6.78-to-1, and his ERA is a miserly 1.88. In the SCVAL De Anza Division, Palo Alto saw its possible title hopes disappear in a 6-5 loss in 10 innings at first-place Los Gatos. The Vikings fell to 7-4 in league (11-11 overall) while the Wildcats improved to 10-1.
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Prep roundup
SHP junior Will Johnston had two hits and picked up his fifth pitching win. Los Gatos got the deciding run when winning pitcher Corey Olivet led off the bottom of the 10th with a triple. After the next two hitters were intentionally walked, Olivet scored on a high infield chopper. Bowen Gerould led Paly with three hits with Austin Kron and Laurence Han adding two hits each. In another De Anza Division game, Gunn (0-11, 2-20) dropped a 5-1 decision to visiting Los Altos (4-7, 9-12). David Schwardt’s RBI single in the sixth inning provided the Titans’ only run. Boys lacrosse With seniors Brian White and Sean Mayle each scoring five goals, Sacred Heart Prep held on to first place in the SCVAL De Anza Division race with a 17-8 romp over visiting Los Gatos on Tuesday. The Gators (8-0, 10-3) grabbed a 13-3 halftime lead and cruised from there. Senior Frankie Hattler added four goals plus six assists to finish with a game-high 10 points. Noah Kawasaki, Frank Bell and Will Kremer all added one goal each while goalie Jack Wise came up with 16 saves. Sacred Heart Prep has four matches remaining, but holds a two-game lead over second-place Menlo (5-2). The Gators can win the division title outright by beating Mountain View and Menlo next week. In Burlingame, Menlo-Atherton got six goals from Duncan McGinnis during an 11-2 win over the host Panthers (0-7, 3-10). Holden Kardos added two goals for the Bears (4-3, 7-8). In Mountain View, Palo Alto (5-3, 8-5) fell back in the race following a 16-7 loss to the host Spartans. In the SCVAL El Camino Division, Gunn dropped an 18-7 decision to visiting Woodside. Jared Bibo, Elyas Daadi and Aaron Miner all scored twice for Gunn. Girls lacrosse Sacred Heart Prep remained atop the WBAL standings with a 20-12 romp over host Mitty on Tuesday. The Gators moved to 5-0 in league and 11-4 overall as sophomores Ally Mayle and Libby Muir scored seven and five goals, respectively. SHP senior Caroline Cummings added four goals while junior Brigid White added two. The Gators, who dropped a 23-6 nonleague decision to host and state No. 1-ranked Amador Valley on Wednesday night. The Knights remained just a game back of the Gators following a 19-6 romp over visiting Castilleja. Menlo improved to 4-1 in league (11-4 overall) as Sophia Donovan, Nikky Price and Indie Varmar all had four goals. Donovan also contributed six assists, grabbed three draws and caused four turnovers. Menlo’s defense limited Castilleja to just 11 shots. Also in Atherton, host Menlo-Atherton snapped V Ì Õi`Ê Ê«>}iÊÇx®
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second in the nation behind Rodgers, won the individual title by two strokes over Rodgers, who had won his previous three tournaments. All three golfers are looking forward to the Pac-12 Championships, which begin Friday at Gallery Golf Club’s North Course in Marana, Ariz., just northwest of Tucson. “We expect to play well every time,” Wilson said. “Guys are having fun and understand every tournament is important. Patrick is a team player and sets a good example of working hard on every aspect of the game. He’s good for me and he’s good for the younger guys.” Rodgers has played internationally, twice as a member of the United States team at the Palmer Cup, and is the top-ranked amateur in the world. Rodgers has played in four PGA Tour events, including taking the lead at the John Deere Classic last year before finishing 15th. He announced his intentions to turn pro early so that speculation would not become a distraction. “We have an opportunity to do something special,’’ Rodgers said in a statement. ‘’I want to put all of the focus on trying to win a national championship for the
Cardinal a boast. Vanegas has yet to allow an earned run in 20 innings and has accumulated five saves. Freshman Tyler Thorne has saved two others and freshman Chris Castellanos has allowed one run in 11 1/3 innings. Freshmen pitchers have started 31 of Stanford’s first 33 games, with Cal Quantrill (10), Brett Hanewich (9), Chris Viall (7) and Thorne (5) taking care of things. Griffin Weir has appeared in seven games out of the bullpen. “I’m not surprised,” Diekroeger said. “I saw how talented they were in the fall. They are very competitive.” Perhaps the biggest boost has come from Vanegas. He has been limited for two years due to injury and is making the most of his current situation. “He jumped right back in,” Diekroeger said. “It’s amazing to have him come into a game as a closer. Being a senior he wants to put the team on his back.” Vanegas was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year award list on Wednesday, Diekroeger, who played two years with older brother Kenny (currently playing for the Wilmington Blue Rocks in the Kansas City Royals organization), won’t get the chance to play with his younger brother, Mikey Diekroeger, who committed to Stanford in November. It’s possible that a Diekroeger could grace the baseball roster at Stanford for 10 consecutive years, beginning with Kenny in 2009. For now, Danny Diekroeger is focused on helping the Cardinal finish strong, earn a bid into the NCAA tournament and then see what happens. N team.’’ It’s the same focus held by everyone on the roster, which also includes Menlo School grad Patrick Grimes, who shot a round of 4-under 68 in Hawaii in February, sophomore David Boote, who has a best round of 4-under 67 in Dallas last October and freshman Jim Liu, who has shot six rounds under 70, including a 5-under 65 at the Stanford Intercollegiate. Senior Shane Lebow, sophomores Keegan English and Dominick Franks and freshman Viraat Badhwar fill the roster with solid players. “Most of the year just qualifying for the team in a certain week was as competitive as the tournament,” McNealy said. “We have a lot of guys who are competitive. If you play well, you make the team.” McNealy finished sixth at the Western Intercollegiate following a fourth-place finish at the Stanford Intercollegiate. He’s shot under 70 in five of his last nine rounds, including a season-best 6-under 65 at The Prestige. “He has excellent ball skills,” Wilson said. “He’s impressive and can compete on any given day. It just shows we have a good team and good depth.” Nationally No. 4-ranked California, No 14 UCLA, No. 11 Washington, No. 20 USC will V Ì Õi`Ê Ê iÝÌÊ«>}i®
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