Bearcats dump Dons

"It was probably one of the best games we've played all year," said San Mateo manager Tony Chavez. "We struggled this year, no doubt."

Those struggles continued in the pre-game warmup as the Bearcats had trouble fielding simple ground balls. But they must have gotten all the errors out of their system as they committed only one error in the game which resulted in an unearned run.

Aragon (8-6 PAL, 14-14 overall) still has a slim shot at making the Central Coast Section playoffs but the Dons came out flat against San Mateo (4-10, 7-18-1) and Aragon manager Jesse Velez attributed that to the Dons' 4-3 loss to Menlo Wednesday, which knocked the Dons out of the running for the Ocean Division title.

"I think there was a little bit of a letdown after Wednesday," Velez said.

There was also the fact that all the Aragon seniors started in their last home game and Velez turned over the managing chores to his assistant coaches.

It worked out fine early on as the Dons took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Daniel Chu led off with a double to left. Brian Rhodes singled and took second on the throw home with Chu stopping at third. After a strikeout, Nick Borg picked up the RBI with a sacrifice fly to left to score Chu.

With the way Aragon starter Noel Alexandre was pitching, it appeared that might be enough offense. He gave up a leadoff single to C.J. Easter to start the game, but then set down the next six batters, throwing 22 pitches in the first two innings.

But things fell apart in the third as San Mateo sent 11 batters to plate, rapped out five hits and scored seven times to take a 7-1 lead.

"We hadn't really done that all year," Chavez said. "We got clutch hits, strung some hits together. We got [Alexandre] early in the count. We got some big hits by a bunch of guys."

Matt Ditty, a seldom-used reserve, got the start in left field for the Bearcats and the move paid off as he went 3 for 3 with three singles, two stolen bases, a run scored and an RBI. It was Ditty's single in the third that put the wheels in motion for the Bearcats and picked up another hit later in the same inning.

"I had a hunch he may do well and he responded," Chavez said. "That was a great day for him."

Ditty singled to start the third and stole second. After a strikeout, Easter walked and both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch. Lee Shaffer reached first on an error with Ditty scoring on the play. Asp came up with and RBI single and Carlos Pena followed with a run-scoring double. Ryan Hammer walked to load the bases and after another strikeout, Andrew Cheung came up with a two-out bloop single to left that scored two more runs.

That proved to be enough offense for Asp who went the distance for the Bearcats in picking up the win. He gave up four runs - three earned - while scattering seven hits and stranding six Aragon base runners. Asp gave up single runs in the second, third, sixth and seventh innings.

Quite a performance by a guy who hadn't thrown in approximately 10 days.

"But he wanted the ball," Chavez said. "I wasn't sure he was going to throw. He said, 'I feel 100 percent. I want the ball.' He mixed his pitches well. He threw a complete game. (You) can't say much more."

While Aragon came into the game flat, San Mateo came out fired up. There were a number of factors riding on the game.

"This was our championship (game). Aragon came into the week with a chance for [an Ocean Division] title. Even though they lost to Menlo, maybe (we) dampened their chances to get into CCS. I would like to see them get in … but if they don't, I won't feel sad," Chavez said. "We hadn't beaten Aragon since I've been here - about six games. (Also) if we lost this game, there was a chance we could go down [to the Lake Division]."