Jun 28, 2008

Fariba's defense plays big role in Los Altos' victory

By Greg Lydon / Daily News Correspondent

Causing havoc on the base paths all night, mixed with a friendly bounce here and there, helped the Los Altos 19-and-under American Legion baseball team defeat San Bruno 9-6 Friday evening at Mountain View High School.

Scott Russell and Aaron Komiserak handled the pitching duties nicely for the triumphant Hawks. Komiserak's two strikeouts and the second great grab of the day by second baseman Kamron Fariba closed out the game.

"It was a good game tonight, we got production from everyone," Los Altos coach Brady Austin said. "Both pitchers did a great job. It was a back-and-forth catfight the whole way."

JT Trutna opened the ninth inning with a five-pitch walk for San Bruno. Vickrum Singh followed with a single up the gut to bring the tying run to the plate. After a strikeout, a shallow pop fly was hit toward Fariba at second base. Fariba - a catcher getting some time from behind the plate - made his mark on the game with his glove.

"I saw the ball the whole time, I just slipped and fell on the way back when the pop fly was in the air," Fariba said. "I didn't lose track of it, I just knew once I fell the catch was going to be a lot tougher."

Fariba's catch from the seat of his pants kept at least one run off the board, breaking the spirit of the San Bruno comeback attempt.

"We're all having such a good time together. It's been a lot of fun playing with this group," Fariba said. "Coach gave my legs a break tonight behind the plate. Usually, I come in at third base, but I can play anywhere."

In Fariba's first inning at second base, he tracked back to the edge of the infield and made the first of two nice catches, snowconing a shallow pop fly to rob a San Bruno hitter of a hit.

"Kamron had two outstanding catches tonight," Austin said. "Both sides played really hard. That's a good team over there."

Jeff Clegg opened the scoring in the first inning for San Bruno with a solo homer to dead center field.

Los Altos scored twice in the second to take the lead, then added a score in the fourth and two more runs in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead.

Russell pitched six strong innings for Los Altos. Once the crafty right-hander left the mound, San Bruno started their comeback push.

Clegg ripped an RBI single to left field to pull his team to within two runs, then Cody Medefesser tied the game with an RBI single to left field. Two runs scored on the play as two Hawks outfielders collided.

"We made some nice plays in the field and on the base paths today, but not everything went our way, and they took advantage of that,"Austin said.

The Hawks took a 6-5 lead in their half of the seventh as Kevin Hashimoto doubled to the wall.

Los Altos scored once more in the inning off an error, then added two insurance runs in the eighth inning off a Ches Douglas bases-loaded single to center.

Los Altos (6-7) hits the road for a doubleheader Sunday in Belmont. They meet the San Carlos Tribe at Carlmont High School at 11 a.m.