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Scotts Valley looks toward Los Gatos after beating Santa Cruz
 Tom Walsh of Scotts Valley Bocce sends a ball down the court against Santa Cruz during a 3-0 games victory Saturday, April 19, at the Skypark bocce court. Lucjan Szewczyk/Press-Banner
Shoemaker was disappointed that she had missed the target ball thrown at the beginning of each bocce round, but more disappointed with her team’s performance against the Scotts Valley Bocce team. The upstart Santa Cruz team, which just began play at a new Santa Cruz bocce court outside of DeLaveaga Park, lost by a 3-0 game tally Saturday, April 19, in windy conditions at Skypark.
The team from Santa Cruz put up a fight, but a lack of experience showed as Scotts Valley piled on the points.
Scotts Valley came away with a trophy that will go to the winner of the (hopefully) annual rivalry game, as well as six bottles of wine.
Despite the defeat, Shoemaker is up for a challenge and wants to make the bocce matches a regular thing.
 Scotts Valley Bocce’s Eric Ross prepares for a toss during the match Saturday, April 19. Lucjan Szewczyk/Press-Banner
“We don’t quite have the finesse that they do yet,” said Shoemaker, whose team practiced once before the match. “I think this is a pretty good group.”
But Scotts Valley hasn’t dwelt on the April 19 victory, as another match looms in the near future.
Ross said skill will be more of a factor in a contest Saturday, April 26, against Los Gatos, which defeated a team from Scotts Valley in the fifth game of a best-of-five series last year.
Scotts Valley players have compared playing on Los Gatos’ rubberized bocce courts to throwing on ice. With little force, the balls easily travel the length of the court.
The annual matchup is called the Over the Hill Tournament, and the teams are competing for a trophy, bragging rights and six more bottles of wine.
“That’s going to be a tough one,” said Telles, who saw during a practice session in Los Gatos that water has changed the playing surface. “There’s some trickery in that for us — play the water spots.”
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