On Friday May 1, Los Altos senior Keane Johnson earned the win against Monta Vista to seal fourth place in the SCVAL De Anza Division and a spot in CCS. The team had previously been tied for fourth with Monta Vista and Homestead making this game the tiebreaker in a bid for a shot at the CCS championships. This will be the fourth straight year they have made CCS, after placing second last year and winning the year before.

“I think we’re all excited to be back at CCS,” Keane said. “It was expected of us and we expected it of ourselves.”

The team has no doubt in its mind that it has a shot at winning its second CCS title in three years.

“Baseball is far too unpredictable for anybody to be overlooked,” sophomore Mat Snider said. “We may not come into CCS as the best team, but I think we have a chance to come out of it as the team that nobody beat.”

Despite gaining momentum coming into CCS, the team knows that there are still critical areas that need to be focused on.

“Baseball is all about execution, so execution should be the focus in order to win,” senior Connor Lanman said. “It’s all about getting that bunt down, fielding the ground ball cleanly, communicating with your teammates, and throwing strikes.”

Some players that will be key in this bid for championship will be Keane, Mat, freshman Nolan O’Such, sophomore Mitch Kehlet, and junior Danny Auerbach. The team will most likely need to rely on these guys in the field, on the mound, and at the plate.

“If we really want this title that we were deprived of last season, we’re going to have to do everything we can…” junior AJ Strom said. “We all just have to play smart and play every game like it’s the last game of our lives.”

Baseball lost 15-3 at Los Gatos in their first CCS game. Mitch received the loss giving up seven runs in the first inning. Keane hit a solo homerun, and Danny had a two-out RBI.