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Neufeld tosses gem at Raiders
Fremont pulls out thrilling 2-1 win over Cupertino
By DICK SPARRER
Kathryn Neufeld of The King's Academy in Sunnyvale figures to be one of the best pitchers in Central Coast Section girls softball this spring.
And you'd certainly get no argument on that score from the Silver Creek Raiders this week.
The Raiders ran into Neufeld and the Knights in the first round of the Yerba Buena Tournament last weekend, and Creek could manage just one hit in a 9-0 loss to King's.
Neufeld, who posted a 19-2 record a year ago when she tossed the Knights to a league championship as just a freshman, fired a one-hit shutout to lead King's to the easy win over the Raiders. Neufeld struck out 14 in the six-inning game.
The sophomore ace, who allowed just five batters to put the ball into play, pushed her 1999 season record to 6-3 with the victory.
Junior third sacker Katie Shockey led an 11-hit attack for King's in the win. Shockey pounded a double and a triple to drive in five runs for the Knights.
Krista Lutz slashed three hits for the Knights, Neufeld and Cecily Gordon slapped two apiece and Adrienne Cole doubled. Gordon drove in two runs in the win.
King's, 6-5 in the young season, is a favorite to win it all in the Christian Private Schools League this season.
"A repeat league title and Central Coast Section playoff berth seem likely," said King's coach Dan Atwell in assessing his club's chances this spring. "Neufeld dominated most teams [last year] and should continue to do that this year."
Cole, the club's catcher and a returning all-league, returns for her fourth varsity season for the Knights. The senior is joined by talented juniors Shockey, Hawley Menser (shortstop) and Kirsten Corstorphine (second base) and sophomores Neufeld and Gordon (first base) as top returners from last year's championship squad.
Lutz and Jaime Bare are a couple of juniors up from last year's JV squad, and newcomers Julie Belton, Jolanda DeLange, Angela Guidi and freshman Lisa Leong are others to watch.
Atwell expects his club to win the league title and then rival Notre Dame-Salinas for the CCS Division III crown.
In girls softball play in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League last week, Lynbrook rallied from behind to beat Homestead 3-1.
Sophomore hurler Stacey Benzing went the distance to toss a six-hitter to lead Lynbrook to the 3-1 win over the Mustangs. Benzing struck out 10 in the game and was touched for just a single run in the third.
But it was that run that gave Homestead the lead until the fifth. Lynbrook took control, though, with three runs in the top of the fifth to help make Benzing a winner.
Senior Natalie Corral was the hard-luck loser for the Mustangs. She fired a five-hitter, but gave up the costly hit to Bailey in the fifth.
Julie Speckels and sophomore Ashley Suth had two hits apiece for Homestead.
Firebirds top 'Tino
The baseball race tightened in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL last week when Monta Vista knocked off Wilcox 3-0 to move into a virtual tie for first place in the division.
Fremont made sure that Cupertino didn't pick up any ground on the leaders, though. The Firebirds edged the Pioneers 2-1 behind a no-hitter by junior hurler Mark Straubel.
Straubel was touched for a single run in the third, but allowed no hits in his complete game effort. He evened his mound record at 1-1.
The Firebirds scored single runs in the first and third to help make Straubel a winner. Jose Carrillo and Jesse Aragon each doubled to lead a five-hit attack for Fremont.
The Firebirds, 4-5 in the division and 6-8 for the year, will take a crack at Monta Vista this week. The 'Birds host the Matadors at 3:30 p.m. on April 14 before hosting Milpitas at 3:30 p.m. on April 16.
Cupertino, now 7-4 in league play and 8-7 for the year, came back with a 6-4 win over Homestead later in the week.
Dan Barczi singled and doubled to knock in a pair of runs, and Josh Lockard and Mike Runfola combined to toss a four-hitter to lead the Pioneers to the victory.
Aaron Hall cleared the bags with a bases-loaded double in the third to account for all three Homestead runs. Gary Mullins added two hits for the Mustangs.
Cupertino jumped out to a 5-0 lead with two in the second and three more in the third, but Homestead made it close with three in the home half of the third. Each club scored in the fifth, and that's how it ended--6-4.
Earlier in the week, Adam Milliken had singled and tripled, but Homestead lost a 5-1 decision to Los Gatos.
The Mustangs visit Milpitas at 3:30 p.m. on April 14 before hosting Saratoga at 3:30 p.m. on April 16 in a nonleague game.
Mustangs net win
The Homestead boys volleyball team rebounded from a tough loss to Los Gatos to handle Saratoga 15-7, 15-5, 15-13 last week.
The Mustangs are now 18-3 for the year and 9-1 in the tough Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. Homestead and Los Gatos share first place in the division.
Los Gatos continued its winning ways with an impressive 15-4, 15-6, 15-10 win over Fremont last week. The Firebirds slipped to 5-9 for the year and to 3-7 in the division.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
