Photograph by George Sakkestad
Homestead's Andy Myers attempts to avoid a tag in this game against Los Gatos. The Mustangs lost to the Wildcats, but came back to beat first-place Wilcox later in the week.
By DICK SPARRER
Fremont needed someone to step up.
The Firebirds were suffering through a short losing skid in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. Losses to Milpitas and Los Gatos had dropped the Fremont baseball team below the .500 mark in the division, and the 'Birds needed someone to take over and lead them to victory.
That someone turned out to be senior left-hander Nick Duran.
Duran stepped up to toss a complete game victory for the Firebirds, and he couldn't have picked a better time for the win--because it came against first-place Wilcox.
Duran scattered seven hits to pick up the win, sticking the Chargers with their first loss of the division season.
It turned out to be one of two losses for Wilcox on the week. The Chargers lost 11-10 to Homestead in a slugfest later in the week to slip to 7-2 in the division.
But it was Fremont knocking the Chargers from the ranks of the unbeaten with the tight 6-5 win to open the week. And it was a gutsy performance by Duran that sparked the Firebirds to the victory. Duran pushed his season record to 4-2 with the win.
Darren Lang led an eight-hit attack for the Firebirds with a home run and single to knock in two runs and Warren Rick doubled home two runs for Fremont.
Chris Hoff slapped a pair of hits in the win, and Art Alegria doubled for the Firebirds.
Fremont took the early lead with two runs in the first, but Wilcox tied it with two in the second and went up with two more in the third.
The Firebirds got one back in the home half of the third, and the clubs matched runs in the fifth. But Fremont rallied for two in the sixth to take the lead for good.
Duran held Wilcox scoreless in the sixth and seventh to preserve the win for Fremont.
Homestead, a 10-4 loser to Los Gatos to open the week, made things twice as tough on Wilcox later in the week with an 11-10 win over the Chargers.
Aaron Hall had fours hits to knock in two runs, and Ben Amiwero doubled home a pair of runs, for the Mustangs in the tight win over the Chargers.
John Hanneman singled and doubled for Homestead, and Trevor Salman and Robby Griffith added two hits apiece to key the 16-hit attack for the Mustangs.
Steve Goldberg chipped in with a couple of singles and was also the winning pitcher for Homestead.
The Mustangs trailed 9-2 after five innings, but rallied for six runs in the sixth to cut the Wilcox lead to 9-8. Homestead came back with three in the seventh to go in front, then held on as Wilcox picked up just one in the bottom of the seventh.
Homestead improved to 3-4 in the division and to 6-9 for the year with the win. The Mustangs had managed just two hits earlier in the week in the loss to Los Gatos, 3-5 in the division.
Fremont slipped to 4-5 in the division with a 9-8 loss to Monta Vista to finish off the week.
The Matadors jumped to 3-5 with the win, leaving a real logjam in the race for third in the division.
Wilcox leads the pack with its 7-2 record, and Milpitas sits in second at 6-3. But Monta Vista, Fremont, Homestead, Los Gatos and Palo Alto (3-5) are all within a half game of each other in the race for third.
Sophomore Brandon Douglas homered and singled twice to drive in two runs for Monta Vista in the 9-8 win over Fremont.
Nick Flood tripled and singled twice to plate a pair of runs for the Matadors, and Chad Purcell added two hits in the 10-hit attack. Purcell was also the winning pitcher for the Mats.
Duran and Lamar Harvey each singled and doubled to lead all Fremont hitters in the game.
Knights Þnish 6th
The King's Academy baseball team lost a 5-0 nod to Tomales High in the fifth-place game at the Jamba Juice Tournament in San Francisco last week.
The Knights lost their opener 8-3 to Richmond, but came back to beat Mission of San Francisco 4-2 before falling to Tomales.
The Knights are now 6-4 for the year.
Firebirds fall
The Fremont girls' softball team dropped a pair of games last week, falling 6-5 to Wilcox and 8-1 to Mountain View.
Samantha Hess doubled for Fremont's only hit in the 8-1 loss to Mountain View to open the week.
Fremont slipped to 0-4 in the De Anza Division and to 5-7 for the year with the tight 6-5 loss to Wilcox later in the week.
Sheila Hess locked up in an eight-inning pitchers' duel in the game, but Wilcox broke a 4-4 tie with two runs in the top of the eighth, and the Firebirds could get just one back in the bottom of the inning.
Ana DeCastro had four hits to lead the 12-hit attack for the Firebirds. Cortney Canter and Samantha Hess had two hits apiece for Fremont.
Fremont jumped on Mountain View for three runs in the first inning, but the Spartans came back with a four-run rally in the second. The Firebirds tied it with a run in the third, and that's how it remained until the eighth.
Sheila Hess blanked Mountain View for five straight innings until giving up the two runs in the eighth.
Mustangs spike 'Birds
The Homestead boys' volleyball team battled from behind for an exciting five-game win over Fremont in nonleague play last week.
The Firebirds won the first games 15-13, 15-9, to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the match, but the Mustangs came back to win three straight, 15-11, 15-13, 15-1, to pull out the victory.
Homestead is now 12-4 for the year and Fremont is 10-2.
Fremont nets win
Daniel Schuet pulled out a 6-3, 6-2 win in No. 2 singles to lead the Fremont boys' tennis team to a 4-3 nonleague win over Westmont last week. The victory left the Firebirds 7-8 for the year.
Westgate wins
Melissa Westgate won a pair of events, but it wasn't enough to keep the Fremont girls' swimming team from dropping a 114-34 decision to Saratoga last week. Westgate took the 100-yard freestyle in 1:00.68 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:18.18.
The Fremont boys lost 125-30 to Saratoga.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, April 9, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.