Legion baseball: Bears beat Monta Vista in Legion game Legion baseball: Bears beat Monta Vista in Legion game (June 29, 2005)

Jon Abramson used a blazing fastball and slider to strike out 11 while walking none in pitching a complete-game 5-3 victory for the Menlo Park Bears over Monta Vista on June 22 in a Peninsula/South Bay American Legion league contest.

The victory at Monta Vista in Cupertino brought the Bears' record to 4-4 in Legion play. The Bears are the Legion "B" team (ages 16 and 17), made up of local high school players, and coached by Barry Zirbes and Joe Fontana, who coach the Menlo-Atherton High School varsity team.

Abramson, a 6-foot-2 right-hander who will be a senior at M-A in the fall, also helped himself with a booming double to right field that knocked in the Bears' second run in the first inning, following a sacrifice fly by Skylar Brewer. Abramson scattered five hits and did not allow an earned run.

Menlo Park racked up a dozen hits: Brewer had two singles and three RBIs, catcher Stephen Hicks had a double and scored twice, Joey Stoval and Joe Cain smashed doubles, and Brian Roby and Andrew Preimesberger each had a pair of singles for the Bears. Preimesberger's base hit to left in the second inning scored Stoval for the team's remaining RBI.

Monta Vista scored all its runs in the fifth, when two Menlo Park errors and a single by catcher Greg Gilbert loaded the bases for center fielder Darin Drysdale, who tripled to right field to clear the bases. Drysdale was the only Matador with two hits.

The Menlo Park team is sponsored by American Legion Post 105 in Redwood City. Legion teams play 25 to 30 games during the summer and compete in regional and national tournaments if they qualify.
Report by Chris Preimesberger, official scorer for the Menlo Park Bears Legion team.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.