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Published on 07/08/1996 All articles from this issue

Pitching and fielding

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By Andy Nystrom

Town Crier Sports Editor

give Los Altos win

District 44 all-star baseball

Coach Henry Roux's Los Altos/Los Altos Hills majors players lived up to their billing as all-stars last Tuesday.

Shortstop Johnny Lerch, center fielder Jimmy Buckley and right fielder Mark Hoff all made fine defensive plays that helped the locals notch a 5-2 win over Sunnyvale Southern in the loser's bracket of the double-elimination District 44 tournament in Santa Clara.

"You work on it and practice it," Roux said. "And when they actually do it, it's utterly amazing."

The plays: Ahead 5-2 with one out and runners on first and third in the top of the sixth, Lerch snagged a popup and doubled the man off first to end the game; in the same inning, Buckley flagged down a base hit and threw to second to hold the runner at first; and earlier on, Hoff made a running catch near the infield.

And then there was the all-around good performance of pitcher Thomas Roux, who earned a complete-game victory, had two hits and scored two runs. Roux - who had his fastball and curveball working well - finished with seven strikeouts and allowed only two hits.

"He had terrific control and placed the ball where he wanted - which was around the corners," Coach Roux said. "He kept them off balance a bit."

But Sunnyvale Southern's Seamus Beall had Roux's number in the second, when he hammered a solo home run over the center-field fence and into a fan's lap.

While that may have been the most powerful hit of the game, Los Altos/Los Altos Hills was stronger on the basepaths.

The locals took a 1-0 lead in the first when Roux singled and moved around on an error and Hoff groundout. In the third, Brian Johnson drove in two with a bases-loaded single and Matt Beck's high-chop groundout to third scored another. And Kevin Buurma put his team up 5-2 by reaching base on an error and scoring on a wild pitch in the fourth.

Also providing defensive gems for Los Altos/Los Altos Hills were Johnson, who fielded two hot-shots at second base for outs; and catcher Tyler Martin, who gunned down a runner trying to steal second.

Los Altos/Los Altos Hills, which lost 11-5 to Briarwood-El Camino in the first round and dropped into the loser's bracket, was to next play Monday, after the Town Crier's press deadline.

Sunnyvale..........010 100 - 2 2 4

LA/LAH..............103 10x - 5 3 1

WP - Roux (6 innings, 7 Ks), LP - Severns; HR - Beall (S); 2 hits - Roux (LA/LAH); 2 RBIs - Johnson (LA/LAH); 2 runs scored - Roux (LA/LAH).

9-10-YEAR OLDS: Thanks to good bats and defense, Los Altos Hills started off the tourney with a pair of wins over Briarwood-El Camino, 6-4, and Cupertino National, 5-3, and was to take on Santa Clara Homestead Monday.

As for Los Altos American, it exited the tournament with a 7-6 loss to Tri-Cities and 3-2 defeat to Cupertino American.

ON DECK: Los Altos and Mountain View softballers begin all-star play this week, and Los Altos Pony Baseball's all-stars step up to the plate in the next few weeks.