Sports
BASEBALL: Scotts Valley Season Ends in First Round of Playoffs
Falcons sneak into playoffs, but can't get by tough Menlo team on Wednesday.
The Scotts Valley High baseball team found itself in an early hole on the scoreboard and face-to-face with a pitcher that was simply on fire.
That combination spelled trouble for Scotts Valley as Menlo School-Atherton jumped out to an 6-0 lead after two innings of play and never looked back en route to a 8-0 win Wednesday afternoon in Atherton.
Menlo starting pitcher Freddy Avis struck out 17 batters on the day, earning the complete game shutout.
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Scotts Valley finishes the year 13-14 overall.
The Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League was well represented during day one of the 2011 Central Coast Section baseball playoffs.
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Led by solid showings from Dominic Elkin on the mound and some timely hitting from No. 2 hitter Ryan Bettar, the Santa Cruz High baseball team defeated Stevenson School-Pebble Beach 8-2 in a first round playoff game Wednesday at Santa Cruz High.
Santa Cruz will now play No. 1 seed Palma in the Division III quarterfinal round on Saturday.
No. 4 seed Soquel High also advanced and will play Half Moon Bay in the next round.
"All of players contributed for us in the win," Santa Cruz head coach Matt Elliot said. "Ryan Bettar really had some good at-bats. He did a great job in the No. 2 spot in the order."
At the other side of the D-III bracket, Harbor traveled north to play Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton.
The Pirates dropped five straight to close out the regular season, including a pair to rival Santa Cruz, and couldn't stop the bleeding on the road Wednesday.
SHP defeated Harbor, 4-2.
