Photograph by George Sakkestad
Homestead's Ben Amiwero tossed a three-hit shutout and also homered to help the Mustangs to a 4-0 win over Monta Vista last week.
By DICK SPARRER
Ben Amiwero was flexing his muscles both at the plate and on the mound for the Homestead baseball team last week.
As a result, the Mustangs pulled out a 4-0 win over rival Monta Vista in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Amiwero tossed a three-hit shutout for the Mustangs, and he also provided all the offense his club really need with a solo home run. Amiwero pushed his season mound record to 3-1 with the win.
But the senior right-hander got a little help from his friends in Homestead's victory.
Kayzell Milton singled and doubled to knock in two runs for the Mustangs. Steve Goldberg singled and doubled for Homestead and Trevor Salman ripped a double.
The Mustangs scored the only run they really needed in the first, but added three insurance runs in the fourth.
Homestead improved to 4-4 in division play with the win. The Mustangs are 7-9 for the year.
Monta Vista slipped to 7-9 for the year and to 3-6 in the division.
Fremont wins, loses
Fremont, meanwhile, opened last week with a come-from-behind win over Palo Alto, but the Firebirds lost a tough 6-5 nod to Milpitas and an 8-1 nonleague decision to St. Francis to close out the week.
The Firebirds are now 5-6 in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL and 7-10 for the year.
Sophomore Gabe Duran blasted a home run, and Darren Lang tripled to lead Fremont to the win over the Vikings.
Ray Loya was the winning pitcher, and Lamar Harvey came on to pick up his third save of the season. Harvey also knocked in two runs for the winners.
The 'Birds were down 5-0 after four innings as Paly picked up a run in the first and four more in the fourth. Fremont scored in the fifth, but Paly got it back with a run in the sixth.
Then the Firebirds broke the game open with a six-run rally in the home half of the sixth that lifted them to a 7-6 victory.
The 'Birds came back with another late rally against Milpitas, but they came up a run short in a 6-5 loss to the Trojans.
Fremont led 3-0 with two runs in the first and one in the fifth, but Milpitas scored two in the fifth and four in the sixth to lead 6-3. The Firebirds rallied for two in the seventh, but lost by one.
Harvey doubled and singled twice to lead a nine-hit assault for the Firebirds. Nick DiQuisto singled and doubled to knock in a pair of runs.
Bryan McCann doubled, but that was one of just three hits for Fremont in an 8-1 loss to St. Francis.
The Firebirds trailed just 2-1 in the second, but the Lancers chipped away with one in the bottom of the second, one each in the third and fourth and three in the sixth to win it.
Mustangs split
The Homestead girls' softball team split a pair of games last week, losing 6-1 to St. Francis in the Watsonville Tournament before beating Mountain View 2-1 in a De Anza Division game.
Senior Nicole Byroads was the winning pitcher and also homered to lead the Mustangs to the win over the Spartans. Shawnti Bortoli homered to account for Homestead's only other runs of the game.
Julie Speckels and Angela Diffenderfer ripped two hits apiece for the Mustangs, who improved to 2-3 in the division and to 5-12 for the year.
Bortoli slapped two singles, but Homestead could manage just three hits in the 6-1 tournament loss to the Lancers.
Homestead will resume play in the Watsonville Tournament during spring break before returning to league play April 23 against Los Altos.
Firebirds fall
The Fremont girls' softball team lost a tough 9-6 decision to Los Altos last week, despite taking a 6-5 lead into the seventh inning.
Fremont jumped on Los Altos for two runs in the second. The Eagles fought back with three in the third, but the Firebirds rallied for two in the home half of the frame to regain the lead, 4-3.
The clubs matched runs in the fourth, and Fremont scored again in the fifth to hold the lead. The Lady Birds led by one heading into the seventh, but the Eagles unloaded for four runs to clinch the victory.
Sheila Hess and Cortney Canter each homered and Terri Ahlmann had two hits, but it wasn't enough for the Firebirds. Hess singled and homered to drive home three runs, and Ahlmann singled and doubled.
Fremont slipped to 0-5 in the El Camino Division with the loss.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, April 16, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.