LOS GATOS — First place was on the line and the two pitchers faced off in a duel that won’t be soon forgotten.
Los Altos held a tenuous one-run lead heading to the bottom of the seventh and came within millimeters of pulling off the win. But a throw for a game-ending and Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division-clinching double play hit the dirt and rolled away and two Los Gatos runners crossed the plate.
Game over. Final score: Los Gatos 2, Los Altos 1.
“A great game between the two top teams in the league,” Los Gatos coach Mike Minkel said. “Games like that, runs are hard to come by. Two horses on the mound doing what they’ve been doing all year.”
Los Gatos’ Sage Romero (6) bunts the ball against Los Altos in the seventh inning at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif., on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
As a result, Los Gatos, Los Altos and Palo Alto go into the final day of the regular season tied for first place in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division standings at 10-3.
Los Gatos (22-4) will play at Los Altos and Palo Alto will host Wilcox on Friday.
Los Altos took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Kai MacQuiddy hit a one-out single, went to third on Emmett Heath’s hit-and-run single to right, and scored on an error.
Cash carried the one-run advantage into the bottom of the seventh, but issued a leadoff walk to Donovan Freed. Jayden Thomas pinch ran for Freed and Brayden Smith laid down a perfect bunt along the first-base line. Los Altos had elected not to have its first baseman charging, so Cash had some distance to go to pick it up. His throw to first was too late to get the out.
Sage Romero then bunted the runners over to second and third. Rowen Smith was walked intentionally to set up the double play and Santino Nanez hit a sharp grounder to the Los Altos second baseman, who flipped to the shortstop for one out, but the hurried throw to first was just a little off target.
Los Gatos’ Ethan Williams (18) pitches against Los Altos in the fourth inning at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif., on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Los Gatos sophomore Ethan Williams pitched a three-hitter, did not walk a batter, struck out six and induced 12 ground-ball outs to improve to 10-1 on the season with a 1.33 ERA.
“I knew early he had his good stuff,” Minkel said. “First six batters of the game pounded the ball right into the ground. If we tied the game and didn’t go ahead we were going to run him back out there. For where he’s at he’s incredibly polished. He knows how to pitch. He studies the game, studies opposing hitters. He studies video. He does all the things you need to do to be exceptional at this level.”
Williams was asked what was working for him:
“Sinker, changeup plays off that, just a little bit slower,” Williams said. “A cutter that moves the other way than the tendencies of the changeup and a breaking ball.”
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Los Altos junior southpaw Sky Cash threw a four-hitter and came oh-so-close to a memorable complete-game shutout, division-clinching victory.
“It’s really hard to say one run’s all we’re going to need,” Los Altos coach Gabriel Stewart said. “But Sky Cash almost made it hold up,”
Los Altos (13-11) started the season 1-6, but swept Palo Alto the first week of league play and took off from there, staying in first place the duration of the divisional season.
“All credit to the team,” Stewart said. “They stuck with it and we’re still in position to play for something pretty meaningful. Other teams, they get that kind of start, they don’t have the mental resilience and strength to get through it. These guys are tough. They’re going to keep on working hard and we’re going to bounce back.”
Los Altos’ Sly Cash (3) pitches against Los Gatos in the fourth inning at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif., on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Los Gatos’ Carter Johnstone (2) slides into third as Los Altos’ Quinn Chiochios (8) catches the ball in the fourth inning at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif., on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Los Altos’ Brennon Holleb (6) fields a ground ball against Los Gatos in the third inning at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif., on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Los Gatos’ Santino Nanez (1) fields a ground ball against Los Altos in the third inning at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif., on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)