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LOS GATOS — The initial steps of repairing relations between Palo Alto and Los Gatos high schools took place on a baseball diamond in one of the first athletic events between the schools since administrators banned students from attending games.
Afterward, the Santa Clara Valley Athletic league rivals munched sandwiches together in a symbolic gesture meant to soothe tensions that escalated at football and basketball games during the school year.
School administrators implemented the unusual ban for all spring sporting events after a fan tossed an object on the court during a Feb. 1 boys basketball game at Los Gatos. The first event after the ban was March 18 involving the schools’ girls lacrosse teams.
On Wednesday, Palo Alto remained tied for first place in the De Anza Division after a 4-1 victory that players and coaches described as a strange atmosphere without students cheering. A smattering of adults sat in the stands on a cloudy afternoon as Palo Alto star pitcher Josh Kasevich improved to 5-0 after going 5 ⅔ innings.
“We love playing Los Gatos and the last three or four years it’s always been a great battle and that’s the game that most of the students go to,” the Oregon-bound pitcher said. “So to have no students there it’s kind of weird, but it’s still baseball, it’s still fun.”
Sandis Bins and Brandon Demuro, Los Gatos freshmen volleyball players, were prohibited from walking across the gymnasium parking lot to watch the ball game. They didn’t complain.
“It’s strange, but we messed up by what we did by attacking the basketball player, and that was wrong,” Bins said. “I kind of in a way feel like we deserve this, but I don’t think it’s fair to the players because they need the student body support.”
Demuro agreed.
“While it’s supposed to be a rivalry, yes, we aren’t supposed to go out and attack the other team,” he said. “It’s not supposed to be an aggressive rivalry. It’s kind of a fun rivalry.”
After all, Bins added, “We’re teenagers, we aren’t the pros out here.”
The ban exempted athletes’ siblings, which is why Anna Thie, twin sister of Palo Alto center fielder Paul Thie, sat behind home plate with her mom.
Anna, 17, understood why administrators banned students, but “basketball is indoors and baseball you’re sitting outdoors and it’s mostly parents anyways, so I don’t think that many kids would’ve come if it wasn’t banned,” she said.
Athletes from the schools are expected to participate in a “Positive Sportsmanship Summit” on April 29 at Fremont High in Sunnyvale to continue easing tensions. The baseball teams plan to share pizza Friday after their rematch at Palo Alto High school.
Some students first “ thought that it was just the administration didn’t want people to be relaxed and have fun and interact with the other team at games,” said Los Gatos’ Jared Quandt, a football and baseball player. “But now that we’ve been talked to a couple of times they understand that it’s inappropriate behavior and that we have to refrain from talking smack.”
Julie Quandt, Jared’s mother, praised administrators and coaches for taking action but “it starts at home, so hopefully through the communication from both districts that have gone out that parents will start looking inward, as well.”
On Wednesday, almost everyone was thinking about the weirdness of a high school game without students in the stands. Los Gatos coach Nate Anderson described the afternoon as “pretty quiet” but said the players enjoyed competing against each other.
“Our two teams have never had a problem,” Palo Alto coach Pete Fukuhara. “These boys love the game of baseball and they just like to come out and play. And that’s it, they respect the game.”
But no one could ignore the oddity of a rivalry game without students.
“It was definitely unusual because we have a great school and we have a lot of fans coming out, but to look up and not see anyone you know is a weird feeling,” Los Gatos’ Jared Quandt said.
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