Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Fremont's Jose Carrillo heads for home after blasting a home run in an 8-6 win over Los Gatos, much to the dismay of Gatos third base coach Wayne Senini (left).

Young Firebirds competitive

Homestead nails first league win

By DICK SPARRER

Sid Castro knows what his club has to do to stay competitive in the rugged De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League this spring.

And thus far in 1999, his Fremont baseball players are doing it.

"We'll need to play solid defense if we hope to survive in the De Anza League," said Castro.

And his Firebirds have done their job well enough in the few of the campaign to jump out to a solid 3-2 start in league play.

Fremont beat rival Homestead 10-3 last week to jump above the .500 mark in the division. The win helped the Firebirds remain tied for third place with Monta Vista, just a couple of games behind division-leading Cupertino. Homestead slipped to 1-5.

Jason Placencia went the distance to fire a seven-hitter in Fremont's 10-3 win over the Mustangs last week. The junior hurler evened his season record at 2-2.

Veteran Gabe Duran ripped a double for the Firebirds and Carl Lucas knocked in a pair of runs.

Jon Wilson had two hits and Jason Schroeder doubled to lead the seven-hit attack for the Mustangs.

Fremont, now 5-4 for the year, had opened the week with a 9-2 loss to Palo Alto in a nonleague game.

Mark Ahrens singled and doubled for the Firebirds and Jose Carrillo drove in two runs, but Fremont could manage just five hits in the game.

Fremont got off to a slow start in league play, losing 8-2 to Cupertino and 7-1 to Monta Vista. Ahrens had three hits in the loss to the Pioneers, and freshman Troy Tulowitzki doubled in the loss to the Matadors.

But Fremont fought back with an 8-6 win over Los Gatos, then beat Milpitas 6-2 to even its record at 2-2.

Carrillo's home run was the key blow for the Firebirds in the win over Los Gatos.

David Quinonez was the winning pitcher and Duran and Carrillo were the hitting stars in Fremont's win over the Trojans.

Duran singled twice and tripled for the Firebirds and Carrillo doubled twice to knock in a pair of runs. Johnny Tona also drove in two runs in the win.

The three league wins, coupled with a pair of solid nonleague victories, have punched the Firebirds over the .500 mark for the year.

Fremont came through with a couple of impressive wins in the preseason, beating Cupertino 6-3 and St. Francis 6-5 in the Pirate Classic.

Duran blasted a grand slam with one out in the bottom of the seventh to lift the Firebirds from a 5-2 deficit to a 6-5 win over the powerful Lancers. Duran, who had two hits and drove in five runs on the day, was also the winning pitcher.

Placencia got the win and Sergio Perez came on to get the save in Fremont's 6-3 tournament win over Cupertino.

Duran and Placencia are two of just five returners for the Firebirds this spring, and only two of those returners are seniors.

"We will be an extremely young team, with only two experienced seniors," said Castro before the season began. "We'll start a freshman on the infield and use another ninth-grader on the mound."

"We don't have any power pitchers, so it will be vital to play good defense," added the coach.

Duran and Carrillo are senior returners for the Firebirds. Carrillo won all-league first team honors last season and Duran was picked to the second all-league squad.

Center Pete Hernandez is a junior returner who won a spot on the all-league honorable mention list last season. Juniors Placencia and Tona are other top returners.

Seniors Lucas and Perez and junior Quinonez are top newcomers for the Firebirds.

Mustangs win

Homestead had opened league play with a 3-2 win over Milpitas last week.

The Mustangs fell behind 1-0 in the first, but a two-run single by Wilson keyed a three-run second-inning rally for Homestead, and that's all starter James Park needed. The right-hander tossed a six-hitter to lead the victory.

Homestead, now 3-6 for the year and 1-5 in division play, opened the year with losses to Wilcox, Cupertino, Monta Vista and Los Gatos before beating Milpitas.

Adam Milliken singled and doubled and Gary Mullins and David Kidd each had two hits to knock in two runs apiece, but the Mustangs lost 15-5 to Wilcox. Chris Dreyer had two hits for Homestead and Nick Nelson doubled.

Later that week, Homestead rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh, but came up a run short in a 9-8 loss to Cupertino.

Milliken singled and doubled, Dreyer had two hits, Aaron Hall doubled in a pair of runs and Schroeder knocked in two runs for the Mustangs.

Early in the year, Bryan Skitt was the winning pitcher in Homestead's 5-4 nonleague victory over Overfelt. Nelson singled and tripled to drive in three runs, and Milliken had two hits.

De Anza Division standings: Cupertino 5-0, Wilcox 4-1, Fremont 3-2, Monta Vista 3-2, Los Gatos 1-4, Milpitas 1-4, Homestead 1-5.

King's wins two

The King's Academy baseball team won twice in nonleague play last week. The Knights pounded James Lick 7-1 and beat Redwood Christian 10-7 to improve to 7-2 for the year.

Brian Ghiossi had two hits to drive in two runs and Brandon Ghiossi doubled in two more to lead the Knights to the win over Redwood.

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