By Dick Sparrer
Travis Howell and Stephen Sweeney make quite a team.
And because of it, the Cubs were quite a team when they battled the Yankees last week in the major division of the Los Gatos Little League.
The Cubs blanked the Yanks 11-0 when Howell and Sweeney teamed to toss a no-hitter and also combined for five hits.
Howell struck out 10 in five innings of no-hit work, and Sweeney fanned two when he closed out the gem with one inning on the hill.
Howell's three-run homer in the fourth was the big blow of the game, and he also singled and doubled in the win. Sweeney supported with a single and double.
But it wasn't just Howell and Sweeney doing damage at the plate for the Cubbies. James Furlo ripped a triple and Kevin Credelle smacked a double to help the Cubs to the win.
It was all just the start of a great week for the Cubs, though. They came back to record back-to-back 9-5 wins over the Expos in two more games.
William Lampe singled and doubled and Charlie Clark had two hits to lead the Cubs to the first 9-5 win. Howell and Credelle each doubled for the Cubs.
Ryan Daily had two hits and Matt Miguel doubled in the loss.
Clark struck out five in two innings of work to get the win in the second 9-5 Cubs victory over the Expos. He also had two hits and scored three runs in the game. John Branch singled and tripled and Danny Politi had two hits in the win.
Daily and J.P. Bellotti each had two hits in the game for the Expos. Bellotti, Nick Nino and Geno Gingery each doubled.
In other action, Daniel Holtzman had a quite a day for the Indians in an 18-4 win over the Marlins. Holtzman struck out five in three innings to get the pitching win, and he also doubled, homered and scored five runs for the winners.
David Holtzman was 4-for-5 with a double and Jason Furia singled, doubled and tripled in the win. Sean Pinner and Nick Perone added two hits apiece and David Barden doubled.
Brandon Burks tripled for the Marlins.
The Pirates remained unbeaten with consecutive wins over the Rangers.
Trent Edwards struck out all nine of the batters he faced to pick up the pitching win for the Bucs in an 8-4 win over the Rangers. Edwards had now fanned 20 straight hitters.
Eric Brown cracked a two-run homer in the second and finished with two hits and three runs-batted-in for the Pirates. Nick Russell had two hits and Hans Jorgensen tripled.
Alex Anderson doubled in the loss.
Chris Eagen was the winning pitcher for the Pirates in a 7-2 win over the Rangers. Trevor Branon singled and tripled and Edwards and Drew Bothman had two hits apiece. Jorgensen ripped a two-run triple.
The Giants stayed close in the standings with three wins last week.
Andy Betzina singled and doubled and Chris McMorrow singled twice and scored three runs to lead the Giants to a 13-2 win over the A's. Devon Schrock and Alex Rollin each doubled.
McMorrow singled and doubled and Schrock had two hits in a 7-5 win over the Yankees. Kris Zanotto singled and scored three times.
Michael Robards belted a triple and Matt Rose doubled for the Yanks.
McMorrow was 3-for-3 at the plate and struck out seven in three innings of mound work to lead
the Giants to an 11-3 win over the Yankees.
Schrock and Rollin were each 3-for-3 with doubles and Schrock scored three runs. Betzina had three hits, Zanotto had two hits and Ben Swartley doubled.
Bobby Galmeister singled and doubled for the Yanks.
The Padres beat the A's twice behind the pitching of Matt Cooke and Bryan Schiefelbein.
Cooke fanned eight in three no-hit, no-run innings and Schiefelbein struck out seven over the final three frames in a 7-1 Padres win over the A's. Schiefelbein and Adam Crane had two hits apiece, Cooke and Evan McDonald each doubled and Patrick Murphy tripled.
Anthony Frangadakis singled and doubled for the A's. He also whiffed eight in three innings.
Cooke fanned five and Schiefelbein seven in a 6-4 win over the A's later in the week. Schiefelbein and Evan McDonald each doubled in the victory.
Kyle Laubach doubled for the A's.
Los Gatos Little League major division standings: Pirates 12-0, Giants 9-2, Padres 9-3, Indians 5-4, Expos 5-7, Rangers 5-7, A's 4-7, Cubs 4-8, Marlins 3-8, Yankees 1-11.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, May 8, 1996.
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