Los Altos rallies to edge Bellarmine as Darrion Wesley delivers big hit
SAN JOSE — Los Altos third baseman Darrion Wesley was up with the bases loaded, two out and his team trailing by a run in the top of the fifth Saturday.
The count went 2 and 2 before the lefty swinger fouled off one pitch after another.
Finally he saw one he could put in play and he grounded it up the middle into center field as two runs scored to give Los Altos a 4-3 lead over Bellarmine, a lead that held up until the end of the tightly-contested non-league matchup at Bob Fatjo Field on the Bellarmine campus.
“When I got to two strikes, I was swinging at anything close, swinging at anything in the zone, swinging to protect,” Wesley said. “They were throwing me a lot of outside pitches that I just spoiled off until I got one down the middle.”
Anders Wood pitched the first five innings for Los Altos and got the win. Minesh Jain pitched out of a two-on, no-outs jam in the sixth. Kai MacQuiddy pitched the seventh and recorded his second save in as many days.
“He said, ‘Give me the ball,”’ Los Altos coach Gabriel Stewart recounted. “I said, `No problem.”’
Los Altos improved to 15-4. And defeating a West Catholic Athletic League team made it extra special.
“Honestly, it feels great,” Wesley said. “This definitely helps us with our CCS rankings. Also it feels great because they’re from the WCAL, better competition than what we’re used to playing. And I feel we stepped up and got the job done.”
“We’ve got to keep working hard,” Stewart said. “Whatever our record is in the regular season, the guys have higher ambitions to do some damage in the playoffs. I loved our passion and our engagement today. It was fantastic, an overall, full-team win.”
Los Altos took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third on a run-scoring ground out from MacQuiddy and an RBI double by Gavin Moore.
Bellarmine (11-10) got a run back in the bottom of the third on Emmett Arnott’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly.
The Bells — ranked 17th by the Bay Area News Group — took the lead with two in the fourth as Sam Mendoza and Hudson Reid scored on an error and a ground out hit by Arleigh Souza.
Left-hander Christian Duarte went the first four innings for Bellarmine. Cael Stout, Alex Delucchi and Vincent Kim threw one inning apiece in relief.
Bellarmine began WCAL play this season 0-5, but has won its last four league games. Offense has been an issue as the team’s .252 batting average indicates. But the Bells have a deep pitching staff that has combined for a 1.85 ERA.
“It’s been a decent year,” Bellarmine coach Nate Sutton said. “Obviously our goal is to improve and compete at the end of the year. We’ve overcome some struggles, starting 0-5 in the WCAL. We’re getting better. We’ve got some pitching depth. I’m happy with the progress we’re making.”
Valley Christian 3, Folsom 1
Quentin Marsh doubled and singled and drove in all three runs as Valley Christian improved to 17-4-1 on the season with the non-league won at home.
Hunter Fujimoto scored two runs and Brock Ketelson one.
Cole Laubach pitched the first two innings, followed by four relievers, Mayan Subramanian, Christopher Buck, Quentin Medrano and Forest Zelmer, going one inning each.
Valley Christian, 6-3 at one point this season, has only one loss in its last 13 games.