San Jose, Calif. - The Spartan Gold pounded out 22 hits and produced a pair of big innings in cruising to a 15-1 decision over the Blue in Game 2 of the 2009 Spartan World Series at San Jose Municipal Stadium on Saturday afternoon, November 14.

The Gold thus take a 2-0 lead in the annual best-of-seven intrasquad series, having earned a 2-0 shutout triumph in Friday's opener. They struck for six runs, three of them unearned via one Blue error, on five hits in the fourth to break open a 2-0 game, and added five in the eighth.

In the top of the first inning, junior right-hander David Luna went to a 3-0 count to leadoff batter Chris Carrillo, but came back to strike out the freshman Gold catcher swinging. After allowing singles to Breyon Canez and Corey Valine around a flyout by Danny Stienstra, Luna got Zack Jones swinging as well, to end the threat.

The bottom half saw Carrillo throw out his second would-be base-stealer at second base in as many games, when he got Karson Klauer, who had walked with one away, for the third out.

The Gold was first to the scoreboard in the second, as senior rightfielder Alex Sofranac worked the count full and belted a clean double over the head of junior leftfielder Kerry Jenkins. Junior DH Nick Borg bunted him to third, with Sofranac scoring on a first-pitch dribbler through the left side by freshman leftfielder Nick Schulz. Luna set down the next two batters on called strikes.

The first Blue hit of the afternoon was a two-out, first-pitch, bunt single to third base by junior rightfielder Kolton Klauer in the second. Freshman shortstop Richie Johnson followed with a single up the middle, but Carrillo picked ball two off the dirt from starting pitcher Blake McFarland and fired to shortstop and fellow freshman Jones covering second to pick Klauer off.

Canez took the initial offering of the third inning and laced it into the right field corner for a lead double. Stienstra then drew a four-pitch walk. A Valine sacrifice and Jones groundout later, Luna's balk allowed Canez to trot home for the game's second run.

Tommy Gale singled sharply off the foot of McFarland on the first pitch he saw with one already gone in the bottom half of the third, but the junior right-hander was able to remain in the game. With the count at 1-2, Valine made a great diving stab toward the line at third base at Michael Reiling's hard shot, but the sophomore narrowly beat the throw for an infield hit. A successful double steal put both Gale and Reiling in scoring position. McFarland went to a full count on Karson Klauer and struck him out, and got Jenkins to fly out to left field to keep it a 2-0 game.

The big Gold fourth began with a four-pitch walk by Luna to Borg. A fielder's choice with no putout, and a throwing error on a sacrifice attempt later, the bases were loaded. Carrillo singled to plate Borg and Canez hit an RBI groundout before Stienstra found a hole through the middle to bring two more runs across for a 6-0 advantage.

The inning could have been much worse if not for a spectacular grab by Gale in center, sprinting back and diving toward the wall to rob Valine of extra bases and a perfect 5-for-5 afternoon. Jones took the next pitch up the middle, and Sofranac singled deep behind second on an 0-2 count with Stienstra sprinting all the way around from second ahead of the throw home. Utilizing more first-pitch swinging, Borg singled through the right side to score Jones for 8-0. The frame ended when Reiling dove toward the hole to his left, got up and fired to first for the third out.

McFarland issued a one-out, four-pitch walk to Barney Evans in the bottom half, but bounced back to retire the next two hitters on strikes, Kolton Klauer looking and Johnson swinging.

The top of the fifth featured another remarkable catch by Gale, this time diving forward toward the gap in right center to send Stienstra back to the dugout as the third out with a runner at third.

The Spartan Blue finally registered its first run of the series in the home half. Bryson Rahier and Gale opened with back-to-back singles through the left and right side, respectively, ahead of a perfect sacrifice down the third base line by Reiling. Consecutive fielder's choice ground balls netted a run, with the latter by Jenkins scoring Rahier, but McFarland then set fellow Leigh High School product Tyler Christian down looking to curb the damage. Jones made a nice pick-up on Jenkins' shot, but the Gold was narrowly unable to turn the inning-ending double play.

The two teams combined for five double plays over the final four innings, with three by the Blue.

Three straight hits, with singles from Valine and Sofranac sandwiched around a Jones double to left, gave the Gold another run to open the sixth, with a 10th scoring on a 4-6-3 double-play grounder by Borg.

A lead walk to Evans in the bottom half was wiped out by a 6-4-3 twin killing for the Gold. In the top of the seventh, another leadoff base-runner, this time Carrillo off a single, was off-set by a double play, as Evans corralled the ball off the bat of Canez and threw to Reiling coming across second, who in turn fired back to freshman pitcher David Wayne Russo for the 3-6-1 putout.

The five-run Gold eighth was started by a fourth Valine hit on the day, and capped by a two-run single up the middle by Stienstra. All five runs scored after two were away. Freshman centerfielder Andrew Rodriguez and Canez drew bases-loaded walks around another RBI single by Carrillo, prior to Stienstra's knock.

A 1-4-3 double play started by Christian, in at pitcher for the final three outs, ended the visiting ninth, and a 5-4-3 double play started by Valine, finished the home half and the game.

McFarland (1-0) picked up the win for the Gold, giving up the lone run on six hits and three walks, while striking out five. Dylan Morrow, a freshman right-hander, tossed the final three frames with just one hit against him and one strikeout, to earn the save.

Valine wound up 4-for-5 with a pair of runs scored, while Carrillo added four hits of his own with two runs and two RBI. Sofranac had three hits, all with two strikes, including his double, and had one run and two RBI. He added a trio of quality catches in right field, one in each of the last three frames, ranging almost all the way over into center field on the first two.

Schulz matched Sofranac's 3-for-5 effort, with a walk, two runs and an RBI. Stienstra was 2-for-5 with a walk, run scored and game-high four runs batted in. Canez, Jones and Borg added two hits apiece. Canez drove in two, while Jones and Borg each scored twice. All nine players in the Gold lineup crossed home plate at least once.

For the Blue, Gale was 2-for-4 offensively in addition to his solid work in the field. Luna (0-1) was pinned with the losing decision.

Game 3 of the 2009 Spartan World Series is scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. first pitch on Sunday, November 15. Jones, a San Jose native who was the Mercury News Player of the Year as a senior at Santa Teresa High School, is set to take the hill for the Gold, against right-handed returner Eric LeBaron for the Blue.

Game 2: Spartan Gold 15, Spartan Blue 1

Spartan Gold (2-0) 011 602 050 - 15 22 2
Spartan Blue (0-2) 000 010 000 - 1 7 1

McFarland, Morrow (7) and Carrillo. Luna, Russo (5), G. Rodriguez (8), Christian (9) and Rahier. WP - McFarland (1-0). LP - Luna (0-1). Save - Morrow (1). 2B - Sofranac, Canez, Jones (Gold); Ka. Klauer (Blue). 4 hits - Carrillo, Valine (Gold). 3 hits - Sofranac, Schulz (Gold). 2 hits - Canez, Stienstra, Jones, Borg (Gold); Gale (Blue). 4 RBI - Stienstra (Gold). 2 RBI - Carrillo, Canez, Sofranac (Gold). Attendance - 75.

2009 Spartan World Series
Game 1: Gold 2, Blue 0
Game 2: Gold 15, Blue 1
Game 3: Blue at Gold, Sunday, November 15, 12:00 p.m.
Game 4: Blue at Gold, Friday, November 20, 1:45 p.m.
Game 5: Blue at Gold, Sunday, November 22, 12:00 p.m. (7 innings)
Game 6: Gold at Blue, Sunday, November 22, 2:00 p.m. (7 innings)
Game 7: Gold at Blue, Tuesday, November 24, 2:15 p.m.
(All seven games are originally slated to be played at San Jose Municipal Stadium, but subject to change to Blethen Field, as are dates and times, without notice.)