The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Photograph by Darren Phillips

Homestead's Natalie Corral will be back in there pitching for the Mustangs this week as they return to action in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL.

Amiwero picks up key win

Mustangs pull into second place

By DICK SPARRER

Every game is an important one for the clubs involved in the tight baseball race in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League this spring.

And that's why Ben Amiwero's performance was so important for the Homestead Mustangs last week.

Amiwero went the distance, scattering seven hits along the way, to lead the Mustangs to a clutch 4-1 win over Milpitas.

The win was a big one for the Mustangs, who moved into second place in the circuit by climbing over the Trojans in the division standings.

Wilcox has a solid hold on first place in the division with an 8-2 record, but only two and half games separate the other six De Anza clubs in the race for the three other Central Coast Section playoff spots.

Homestead currently rests in second place with the 5-4 mark and Milpitas and Palo Alto share third with matching 5-5 records. Fremont is close behind at 5-6 with Monta Vista hot on the heels of the Firebirds at 4-6.

Even last-place Los Gatos is not out of the playoff picture. The Wildcats are hanging on with a 3-7 league record.

But Homestead's win last week was a clutch one. Amiwero struck out 11 and spread out the seven Milpitas hits enough to allow just one run.

Still, that run gave Milpitas a 1-0 lead in the third, and that's how things remained until the fifth when the Mustangs tied it.

Homestead snapped the tie with a three-run rally in the top half of the seventh, and Amiwero shut down the Trojans in the bottom of the seventh to clinch the win. He ran his season record to 4-1.

Aaron Hall had two hits to drive in two runs for the Mustangs in the win, and Steve Goldberg also drove home a pair of runs.

Homestead now holds an 8-9 season record to go with the 5-4 league mark.

Palo Alto edged Los Gatos 5-4 and clubbed Milpitas 6-1 in a pair of games last week. The win over Milpitas evened both the Vikings' and the Trojans' records at 5-5.

Clutch win for Mats

Monta Vista also came through with a clutch win last week, beating Los Gatos 8-5. The Matadors, like the Mustangs, are 8-9 for the year, and they are 4-6 in league play.

Garrett Thee singled and doubled to lead an 11-hit attack for the Mats, and he was also the winning pitcher in the victory over the Wildcats. Thee is now 3-2 for the year.

Ryan Realini singled and tripled to drive in three runs for the Mats in the game, and Adam Peters also singled and tripled. Brandon Douglas and Seth Wagner added two hits apiece for Monta Vista.

The Matadors opened up an early lead with three runs in the second, then added another run in the third.

Gatos picked up two runs in the fifth, but the Mats got them back in the home half of the frame.

Los Gatos fought back for three in the sixth to cut the Monta Vista lead to 6-5, but the Mats picked up two insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, then blanked the Cats in the seventh.

Wilcox and Fremont were both idle in division play last week, but both return to league play this week.

Tough loss for Vikes

The Lynbrook baseball team dropped a tough 13-8 decision to Gunn in the fight for first place in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL.

The clubs took matching 6-3 division records into the game, and fought to an 8-8 tie through three and a half innings. But the Titans rallied for four runs in the home half of the fourth, and the Vikings could never answer back.

Still, it was a courageous performance by the Vikes, who found themselves down 8-0 after the first inning. Lynbrook picked up four runs in the second and four more in the top of the fourth to tie the game 8-8.

But Gunn scored four in the bottom of the inning and an insurance run in the fifth to claim the win.

Stace Russo homered and drove home four runs, and Matt Rhoads doubled to key a five-hit Lynbrook attack in the game.

But Gunn ripped 12 hits on the way to 13 runs in the win.

Lynbrook will try to get back on the winning track this week. The Vikings will host Santa Clara on April 22 and Mountain View on April 24 in a couple of 3:30 p.m. games.

And the Vikes will get one more shot at the Titans. The two clubs will meet again on May 1 at Lynbrook.

Knights win big

The King's Academy baseball team opened the year with a win in the Christian Private Schools League, beating Saint Lawrence Academy 15-5. The Knights are now 8-5 for the year.

Danny Carter picked up the mound win, striking out 13 and allowing just five hits. He struck out 13 in his stint. Carter also doubled and drove in four runs for the Knights.

Micah Bariteau doubled, tripled and singled twice to lead a 14-hit attack for King's.

The Knights jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, then put the game away with four in the third, two in the fourth, three in the fifth and five in the sixth.

Carter took a shutout into the sixth, but Saint Lawrence picked up two runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh to avoid getting blanked.

Girls' softball

The local teams of the SCVAL took time out from the league schedule during spring break.

Only St. Francis and Los Gatos in the De Anza Division and Gunn, Milpitas, Saratoga and Palo Alto in the El Camino Division were active in league play last week.

Lynbrook, Homestead, Monta Vista, Cupertino and Fremont were all idle in the division.

Homestead will return to the diamond in De Anza Division play this week. The Mustangs will visit Los Altos on April 23 before hosting Cupertino on April 25 in a pair of 4 p.m. games.

Star hurlers Natalie Corral of Homestead, Jodi Melanson of Lynbrook, Allison Thee of Monta Vista, Annie Gunderson of Cupertino and Sheila Hess of Fremont will all lead their clubs back into league play this week.

This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, April 23, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.