By Dick Sparrer
It's too close for Brian Stuckey to call. So don't be surprised to see the Lynbrook baseball coach fall back on the old sports cliché and take 'em "one game at a time" in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
And so far, that strategy seems to be paying off for Stuckey and his Vikings.
Lynbrook is off to a 3-1 start in El Camino Division play. The Vikes lost their league opener to Mountain View, but have battled back with three straight wins over Saratoga, Gunn and Cupertino.
And those are three important wins, too, considering the fact that Stuckey sees a real "dogfight" for the title in the division this spring.
The Vikings have nine returners from a fourth-place club who Stuckey figures can provide the leadership to make Lynbrook a contender.
Freddy Ramirez and Greg Cirimele top a list of six senior returners for the Vikes. Ramirez, who shares time between third and the outfield when he's not pitching for Lynbrook, is back after earning an all-league second-team berth last season, and Cirimele, who can play second or shortstop, won an honorable mention spot on last year's all-league team.
Catcher Brian Avants, third baseman Mike Quadro and outfielders Shawn Flood and Stace Russo are other top senior returners for the Vikings. Flood and Russo also pitch for Lynbrook.
Junior returners Dan Hoss, Matt Rhoads and Jered Schoettmer are all pitchers for the Vikes. Hoss also plays outfield and shortstop, Rhoads first base and Schoettmer outfield.
Sophomore catcher-outfielder Eric Schmidt is a top prospect moving up to the varsity from the frosh-soph squad, where he won an all-league first-team berth. Juniors David Peng (infield-outfield), Jason Hsiao (infield-outfield) and Nick Kouvaris (infield-pitcher) and sophomore Ryan Quadro (first base-pitcher) are other top prospects coming up from the frosh-soph.
Lynbrook ran its league record to 3-1 with two wins last week.
Schoettmer went the distance to flip a two-hitter in a 9-2 win over Gunn to open the week. He also led the bat attack with a home run and double to knock in a couple of runs in the win.
Avants ripped three hits for the Vikings and Hsiao belted a pair of singles.
The Vikes came back later in the week to outslug rival Cupertino 12-8. Kouvaris picked up the mound win in that one.
Rhoads singled twice to drive in three runs, and Peng doubled twice to knock in a pair. Cirimele drove in two runs, and Schmidt doubled in two more. Avants and Hsiao had two hits each for the Vikings.
A week earlier, Ramirez was the winning pitcher for Lynbrook in a 4-1 victory over Saratoga. Kouvaris led a six-hit attack with a single and double, and Peng and Schmidt also doubled in the win.
Hoss had tripled twice in a season-opening 12-3 loss to Mountain View.
Falcons win
Saratoga jumped onto the winning track in the El Camino Division with a 13-4 win over Mountain View last week, then backed that up with a 13-4 nonleague win over Los Gatos of the De Anza Division.
The Falcons were actually locked in a tight duel with the Spartans through seven innings. The clubs were tied 1-1 through seven before Saratoga broke the game open with 12 runs in the top half of the eighth.
Junior Mike Black singled twice to drive in three runs, and senior Kyle Cardin tripled home three more to lead the Falcons to the interesting win. Freshman Derek Cartmell singled and doubled to drive in three runs.
Matt McKenna had three hits for Saratoga in the win. David Goni added two hits and picked up the pitching win. Trent Frisina chipped in with a double.
The Falcons jumped their season record to 3-2 with the rousing win over Los Gatos later in the week.
Cardin had another big day for the Falcons with a home run, two doubles and a single to drive in five runs for the winners. Ryan Bernard had two hits to knock in a pair of runs, and Goni and Black had two hits apiece. Cartmell and Andre Sorba each doubled for the Falcons.
Sophomore Brett Miller was the winning pitcher for Saratoga, pushing his record to 2-0.
Panthers Even
Prospect evened its record at 1-1 in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League with an impressive 7-5 win over Independence last week.
The win came two days after the Panthers had opened the division season losing a tough 11-6 nod to Willow Glen. But the Rams came back later in the week to beat Gunderson, and that had to make Prospect coach Frank Marotti happy since the Panther boss has picked the Grizzlies as the division title favorite.
Marotti rates Gunderson the league favorite, but figures his own Panthers will be right in the pennant chase.
He's looking for his Panthers to finish "second or third" in the division a year after Prospect won both the varsity and frosh-soph titles in the division.
"We are a young team experience-wise on the varsity level," he said. "But we have 15 players who played on a championship team last season."
Heading the Prospect cast will be all-league returners Brandon Morgan, a powerful first baseman, and Mark Johnston, a talented shortstop.
Senior first sacker Tim Anderson and senior pitcher-second baseman Brandon Gomez are other top returners along with junior pitcher Dan Baucus, who saw time on the varsity last spring and but also enough time on the frosh-soph to earn all-league honors.
Garrett Longworth, a junior infielder-outfielder, moves up to the varsity after winning the all-league most valuable player award on the frosh-soph a year ago.
Juniors Frank Marotti Jr. (first baseman) and Brad King (third baseman) and sophomores Darryl Jacks (catcher) and Dave Hildreth (outfielder) are other top varsity prospects who were all-leaguers on the frosh-soph a year ago.
Baucus and Gomez should provide the one-two punch for the Prospect mound corps this season.
"Our pitching should improve as the season progresses," said the Prospect boss. "But mental mistakes will hurt us at the start."
That may have been the case against Willow Glen last week, but certainly not against Independence.
Gomez and King slapped two hits apiece to lead an eight-hit attack for the Panthers in the 7-5 victory. Baucus picked up the mound win for Prospect.
Johnston had singled and tripled and Steve Bond doubled to lead a seven-hit assault against Willow Glen to open the week. But the Panthers committed three errors in the field and ended up losing 11-6.
The Panthers, now 4-3, lost their opener to Aragon but came back to beat Oak Grove, Gilroy and Mt. Pleasant before losing to Santa Teresa in the Blossom Hill Tournament.
Gomez went the distance, scattering 10 hits, to lead Prospect to a 9-5 win over Oak Grove. Gomez also helped his own at the plate with three hits.
Bond singled and doubled for the Panthers and Johnston doubled.
King clubbed a home run and singled to spark the Panthers to an 11-7 win over Gilroy. Gomez, Bond and Johnston had three hits each, and Jacks cracked a double. Nick Crawford was the winning pitcher.
Gomez tossed a three-hit shutout in Prospect's tight 2-0 win over Mt. Pleasant. Morgan drove in a couple of runs for the winners.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, March 19, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.