Homestead's Robbie Hoffman was one of 27 players to turn the corner at third and head for home in last week's 15-12 Homestead win over Lynbrook.




Photograph by Kathy De La Torre







Mustangs knock off Vikings

Hot corner gets very hot at Lynbrook

By Dick Sparrer

They call it the hot corner.

But third base was never hotter than it was last Thursday when Homestead and Lynbrook collided for a league game in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic.

Third base at Lynbrook was hot indeed as no less than 27 baserunners touched it on their way home to score runs in the Thursday game--15 of them Mustangs, 12 of them Vikings.

And it was Homestead pulling out a 15-12 victory over Lynbrook in the afternoon slugest as the teams combined for 25 hits to go with the 27 runs.

David Dreyfous led the hit parade with a pair of doubles and chased three runners around third to score runs.

Adam Milliken singled and doubled to drive in two runs for the Mustangs, and Matt Whiteman, Robbie Hoffman and Chris Kidd had two hits each to drive in two runs each. Israel Trujillo added two hits and Brandon Dougherty knocked in two runs.

David Attard was the winning pitcher for the Mustangs and Trujillo came on in the seventh to pick up the save.

Matt Fratus doubled and singled twice to drive in two runs for the Vikings in the game. Eric Barnes singled and doubled to knock in a pair of runs and Jim Laughlin doubled.

The win was Homestead's first in league play. The Mustangs had opened the league season with losses to Gunn and Los Altos, and their March 7 game against Palo Alto was suspended because of rain (the game will be completed on March 30).

Homestead, 4-2-1 for the year, will visit Mountain View on March 21 before hosting Santa Clara on March 23 in a pair of 3:30 p.m. games.

Veteran coach Chuck Camuso sees this year's club as a title contender in the El Camino Division, rating Gunn and his own Mustangs as the title favorites.

"We have good speed, and four starting pitchers," said Camuso.

The coach looks to returning all-leaguers Milliken (outfield) and Brandon Schroder (shortstop) as leaders on the club along with returners Whiteman (first base), Attard (pitcher) and Gary Mullins (catcher).

"We're hoping that Whiteman hits the long ball," added the coach.

Camuso is also looking for big things from newcomers Dougherty (outfield), Hoffman (third base), Chris Kidd (outfield) and Bryan Skitt (pitcher).

Firebirds wins

Fremont picked up a run in the home half of the seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie and pull out a 4-3 win over Mountain View in a nonleague game last week.

The Firebirds had gone up 3-0 with two runs in the second and one in the third, and they took that lead into the seventh. Mountain View tied it, though, with a three-run rally, only to see Fremont score a run in the bottom of the seventh to win it.

Senior hurler Mark Staubel held off the late surge by the Spartans to nail down the pitching win. Straubel went the distance to toss a seven-hitter, striking out seven and walking none.

Ernie Vargas singled and doubled for the Firebirds and Brandon Klein belted a double. Cory Bronnenberg knocked in two of Fremont's four runs.

Fremont sandwiched the win with a pair of tough De Anza Division losses, though. The Firebirds lost 4-3 to Los Gatos and 16-6 to Saratoga.

Mark Ahrens and Jason Placencia each ripped doubles and Pete Hernandez knocked in two runs, but the 'Birds lost to the Falcons to close out the win.

Troy Tulowitzki was tagged with a tough mound loss in the 4-3 loss to the Wildcats to open the week.

Fremont had opened the league season with a 9-2 win over Milpitas. Tulowitzki homered and knocked in four runs for the Firebirds. Klein doubled and drove in three runs for the winners and Ron Cerda ripped a double.

Placencia went the distance to toss a five-hitter for the win and helped his own cause with a pair of singles.

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