Sports
BASEBALL: Colts Suffer Another Quick CCS Exit
El Camino falls 9-1 at Los Gatos in Division II opener; PAL Bay champ's playoff drought at 15 years.
The El Camino High baseball team took a different path, but the Colts ended up in the same place as they did a year ago.
The Colts lost to perennial power Los Gatos 9-1 on Thursday in the first round of the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs in a rematch of last year’s postseason opener.
The matchup raised eyebrows in El Camino circles, with the Colts (15-11-1) expecting more respect this year after winning the elite Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division title. The Colts were PAL Ocean champions last season.
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El Camino coach Carlos Roman acknowledged No. 5 seed Los Gatos was a tough draw for a team with a much higher power ranking this season, but offered no excuses.
“I’m sure Carlmont thought the same thing when they drew St. Francis but they stepped up and played and won the ballgame,” Roman said, noting the No. 16-seeded Scots’ of No. 1 St. Francis on Wednesday.
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“If you get by the first round then everything evens out, but for us it was a tough draw,” Roman said.
Colts starter Justin Eclevea (7-3) allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits, three walks and two hit batsmen in five innings.
No. 12 seed El Camino scored its only run in the fourth when Steve Pastora led with a double and scored on Trevor Kelly’s one-out single to center.
Kevin Brogan had three hits including a homer and three RBI to lead Los Gatos (21-9-2).
Brogan’s two-run homer in the sixth highlighted a three-run inning in which the Wildcats broke open a 6-1 game.
The loss extended the Colts’ CCS losing streak to five games going back to 2004. It also marked the end of an era for a nucleus that includes three-year varsity standouts Eclevea and Steve Knudson.
“I’ve known some of these guys since they were seven, and seeing them grow from Pee Wee leaguers to ballplayers at El Camino was a treat,” Roman said.
“This year’s ballclub played well from beginning to end, we just didn’t have enough in the tank today.”
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Los Gatos 9, El Camino 1
EC -- 000 100 0 -- 1 5 1
LG -- 020 133 x -- 9 11 1
WP: Larson. LP: Eclavea.
HR: Brogan, Corey (LG). 2B: Pastora (EC); Brogan, Hibbard (LG).
3 hits: Brogan (LG). 2 hits: Kelly (EC). Labombarda (LG). 3 RBI: Brogan (LG). 2 RBI: Augstine (LG).
Records: El Camino 15-11-1. Los Gatos 21-9-2.
