Starting pitcher Ben Sneider pitches to Cupertino High during the first game of a Santa Clara Athletic League doubleheader.
– David Lim
The Palo Alto High School baseball team (7-3, 4-0) scored a strong win over Cupertino High School, 15-0, on Wednesday, followed by a 6-3 win on Thursday in the second game of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League series.
The Vikings are currently on a six-game winning streak and have outscored their opponents, 72-4.Palo Alto was led by junior Ozzie Braff who spearheaded the Viking offense with 4 RBI in the first game of the doubleheader. “We swung the bats well,” head coach Eric Raich said of the first game. “We threw strikes, we played catch, we hit the ball extremely well.”
The starting pitcher for the Vikings was junior Ben Sneider, who threw a shutout, with three strikeouts and three walks before being relieved once it became apparent that the Vikings were comfortably ahead. Despite the shutout, Sneider was not very satisfied with the amount of walks he gave up.“I didn’t have my best stuff today,” Sneider said. “But when your team puts up 15 runs and 17 hits, you can’t really feel bad about it. I didn’t like walking guys – that’s the only thing that bugged me.”Junior catcher Christian Lonsky hit a solo home run that cleared the left field fence, pushing the Vikings ahead even further.“Today I didn’t know what I was expecting,” Lonsky said. “I wasn’t expecting it to go out, so I was pretty stoked.”Even though the second game of the series was played at Paly, the Vikings batted as the away team due to the fact that Cupertino’s field is currently under construction. The game was moved to Thursday from Friday after the two teams agreed that the rain forecasted for Friday would not be ideal for playing conditions.Senior first baseman T.J. Braff paced the Vikings, going 4 for 4 with a sacrifice fly and 5 RBI. Braff was happy with the way that the team preformed, but emphasized that each game requires a new focus.
“We have been playing very good over the last few games,” Braff said. “I was happy the way I hit today, but tomorrow is a whole new day and we have to be ready to go tomorrow also.”Junior pitcher Kevin Kannappan got the win after five innings of work, throwing no strikeouts and three walks. Kannappan allowed three runs while senior third baseman Drake Swezey received the save allowing no additional runs after relieving Kannappan in the sixth inning.
“It was basically that today was about throwing strikes,” Kannappan said. “It was about giving my team a chance to support me behind me.”
The Vikings will play against Menlo High School in a non-league game at 3:30 p.m. today at Palo Alto High School.