The Palo Alto High School baseball team shut out the Mountain View Spartans 4-0 at home this afternoon.
Ben Sneider (’12) started on the mound for the Vikings. After a scoreless first inning, Justin Grey (’12) began the Vikings’ drive at the bottom of the second inning with a double up the line past the Spartan third baseman.
On a 3-1 count to Clay Carey (’12) Grey was able to steal third base to put the Vikings in scoring position. After Carey was walked, Isaac Feldstein (’13) hit a sacrifice fly bringing Grey home and giving the Vikings a 1-0 lead at the top of the third.
In the third inning the Spartans were able to put a man on base off a Viking error. But with Ozzy Braff (’12) in good field position for the following ground ball, the Vikings were able to end the inning without allowing the Spartans to score. Sneider quickly shut down the Spartans again in the fourth inning with two strikeouts and a groundout.
In the bottom of the fourth, after Carey was walked, pinch runner Jack Cleasby (’12) entered the game on first base. Following Carey, Feldstein was walked as well putting the Vikings in scoring position again. Lefty Michael Strong (’13) had a hit down the middle, sending Cleasby home and increasing the Vikings lead by two.
Sneider continued to show strong performance on the mound in the fifth and sixth innings and allowed no hits for the Spartans.
Jack Witte ('12) slides out at second base. Witte scored a run for the Vikings off a Spartan error. In the bottom of the sixth the Vikings’ momentum picked up again, beginning with Feldstein’s hit off a Mountain View error and a double past the first baseman from Jack Witte (’12). Boyd followed Witte with a double RBI sending both Witte and Feldstein home giving the Vikings a 4-0 lead.
Sneider closed out the game with two groundouts and a strikeout. This win boosted the team morale after Wednesday’s 6-7 loss to the Spartans.
“We bounced back from Wednesday’s loss. We dominated every facet of the game pitching: hitting, fielding and base running,” Sneider said. “We showed them who is the top dog in S.C.V.A.L [Santa Clara Valley Athletic League].”
Short stop Braff agrees with Sneider and attributes the team’s win to “good pitching and good defense.”
The Vikings play Santa Clara High School on Monday Mar. 26th at Washington Park.
