Photograph by George Sakkestad
Homestead hurler Alex Turlea tossed the Mustangs to an 11-0 win over Mountain View.
By DICK SPARRER
The momentum has been building for the Homestead baseball team this season. And the Mustangs weren't about the let a little thing like spring break to do just that--break their momentum this spring.
The Mustangs returned to the diamond for a regular two-game week and posted back-to-back victories to continue their dominance of the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Homestead edged Los Altos 8-7 and came back to whip Mountain View 11-0 to improve to 9-0 in league play and 12-4 for the year.
Junior righthander Tony Plant went six-plus innings to get the win and junior Mike Elias came on for the save in Homestead's tight win over the Eagles.
Homestead led 8-3 heading into the home half of the sixth, but Los Altos started to battle. The Eagles picked up two runs in the sixth and added two more in the seventh before Elias nailed down the save.
Plant struck out eight during his stint on the hill for the Mustangs.
Sal Kirmes led the offensive attack with a home run and a single to drive in two runs. Bret Erickson doubled twice and singled to plate a pair of runs and Gabe Interiano singled and doubled. Mike Jones also had two hits for the winners.
Homestead came back to dominate Mountain View 11-0. Senior Alex Turlea was the winning pitcher in the two-hit shutout for the Mustangs.
Mitch Ignaitis doubled and tripled to knock in three runs for Homestead in the win. Erickson also drove in two runs and Matt Hall doubled and chased home a pair of runs.
It was an eight-run rally in the second that broke the game open for the Mustangs.
Homestead will be back on the diamond April 16, hosting Cuper-tino at 3:30 p.m. The Mustangs will visit Lynbrook on April 18, 3:30 p.m., and Gunn on April 20, noon.
Split for Fremont
While Homestead was winning twice in the El Camino Division, Fremont was splitting a pair of games in De Anza Division play.
The Indians opened the week with an impressive 10-1 win over Monta Vista, but they dropped a 6-5 heartbreaker to Milpitas two days later.
Nick Duran went the distance to fire a four-hitter in Fremont's win over the Matadors. Duran struck out seven and walked just one in posting his second win.
Senior slugger Tom Jimenez was the big hitter for the Indians with a two-run homer and a pair of singles to lead a 12-hit Fremont attack.
Art Alegria tripled twice to drive in four runs for the winners and Danny Cerda had two hits. Duran helped his own cause with a two-run double.
Fremont staked Duran to an early lead with three runs in the first and two more in the second.
Duran lost his shutout when Monta Vista scored a run in the third, but he blanked the Matadors the rest of the way while his mates came through with single runs in the fourth and a fifth and three runs in the sixth.
Fremont could have used a little more balanced scoring against Milpitas two days later. The Indians were shut out for six innings before rallying for five in the seventh, but they were a run short in the 6-5 loss.
Andrew Hoff singled twice to drive in a pair of runs for the Indians, but it wasn't enough. Fremont slipped to 5-6 in league play with the loss and fell to 8-7 for the year.
King's wins two
Lance Westcott had five hits and pitched a win for The King's Academy in a 12-3 victory over Saint Lawrence Academy in Chris-tian Private Schools play last week.
Westcott had three doubles and a pair of singles to lead a 16-hit attack for the Knights. He also picked up the mound win, evening his season record at 2-2.
Danny Carter singled twice to drive in four runs for the winners and Andy Elwell singled and doubled to knock in a pair.
Micah Bariteau doubled and singled twice and Carter slapped a couple of doubles to pace the Knights to a 7-5 win over North Valley Baptist later in the week.
Carter was the winning pitcher for King's, pushing his record to 3-1.
The Knights are now 3-0 league play and 5-5 for the year.
Watters stars
Scott Watters nailed a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles to lead the Homestead tennis team to a tight 4-3 win over Los Altos in De Anza Division play last week.
The win helped the Mustangs improve to 7-2 in league play.
But Homestead lost 5-2 to Pine-wood in nonleague action later in the week despite a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 win by Watters in the No. 1 spot. Home-stead slipped to 12-3 for the year.
Indians ace Milpitas
Brian Nguyen rolled to a 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 1 singles and Fremont followed his lead, rolling past Milpitas 6-1 in El Camino Division play.
Edwin Kim posted a 6-2, 7-6 win at No. 2 singles, Daniel Schuet aced his foe 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles, Scott Flores won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 and Paul Hu won 7-6, 6-1 at No. 5 singles. The win helped the Indians improve to 5-4 in division play and to 9-6 for the year.
A week earlier, Fremont had lost a 6-1 decision to Mountain View. Schuet and Hu teamed for a 6-0, 1-6, 6-0 victory at No. 1 doubles for the Indians' only win of the day.
Mustangs net win
Senior Trung Le was a 15-6, 15-11 winner in the boys' No. 1 singles spot to lead the Homestead badminton team to a convincing 10-5 victory over Cupertino in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL.
Le, a third-place finisher in the Central Coast Section finals a year ago, started the Mustangs on the road to victory with his singles win.
Yu-Tin Lee teamed with Joanne Chang for a 15-4, 15-9 win in the girls' No. 1 doubles slot. Lee finished fifth in CCS doubles play last spring, and Chang replaces Lee's graduated partner.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, April 17, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.