BASEBALL: M-A Rallies Past Sloppy Carlmont

The Score: Menlo-Atherton 10, Carlmont 7.

The Star: Menlo-Atherton High’s resiliency. The Bears have been struggling to find hits of late, but they didn’t need many to overcome a 6-3 seventh-inning deficit at Carlmont in a Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division game on Wednesday afternoon. M-A scored seven unearned runs in the frame, with the lone hit coming off the bat of starting pitcher Myles Brewer. Left fielder Chace Warren added a sacrifice fly and the Bears capitalized on five Carlmont errors.

The Turning Point: After falling behind 6-2 in the fifth after a controversial call, M-A regained its composure and rallied in the top of the seventh for seven runs – an effort that was greatly aided by Carlmont’s defensive woes. That outburst gave the visiting Bears a 10-6 lead, plenty of cushion to withstand a solo home run from Scots catcher Colton Hicks in the bottom of the seventh.

The Quote: “We’ve been struggling at the plate to get the fight going. We told them, ‘Hey, get the fight going. If you go down swinging, you go down swinging -- but have fun.’ We finally caught some breaks.” -- Menlo-Atherton coach Mike Amoroso, on the approach his team took when trailing by three runs heading into the bottom of the seventh at Carlmont.

What’s Next? M-A (7-5, 2-3 PAL Bay) seeks a two-game sweep when it hosts Carlmont (8-5, 4-3) on Friday at 3:15 p.m. in a PAL Bay contest.

The Bottom Line: The win over defending PAL Bay co-champion Carlmont boosts a scuffling M-A team. Despite returning only four players who started for a team that was in the thick of the league title race all last year, the pitching is still in place for the Bears. Trying to replace the offense, especially the loss of last year’s PAL Bay player of the year Jeff Keller, may be more difficult.

Notes: Carlmont swept the season series 2-0 from M-A last year, a 7-0 victory and a walk-off win. … Hicks has two homers in three career games against the Bears. … M-A, ranked No. 10 in , hadn’t defeated the No. 5 Scots since March of 2008. … Despite pitching the seven-run seventh, Carlmont’s Daniel Madigan has still only given up one earned run this season. Madigan was the only returning All-PAL Bay first-teamer to take the field Wednesday. … Hicks has homered in the Scots’ last two league games.

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Menlo-Atherton 10, Carlmont 7

WP: Cortez (2-2). LP: Madigan (3-2). Save: Warren 1.

MA -- 200 001 7—10 7 1

C -- 200 040 1 – 7 7 6

HR: Hicks (C). 2B: Falkenhagen (MA); Hicks, Marley (C). 2 Hits: Falkenhagen (MA); Hicks (C). 3 RBI: Hicks (C). 2 RBI: Falkenhagen (MA).  

Records: Menlo-Atherton 7-5, 2-3 PAL Bay. Carlmont 8-5, 4-3 PAL Bay.