The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Astros rock & roll to four straight wins

By Dick Sparrer

The Sunnyvale Astros may have been singin' the blues when they battled mid-peninsula powers San Carlos and San Mateo a couple of weeks back.

But it was all rock & roll for the Astros in Joe DiMaggio League play last week against Belmont, Burlingame and Menlo Park.

The Astros rocked the three teams to roll to four straight victories in DiMaggio play.

Sunnyvale opened the set by sweeping Belmont in a June 15 doubleheader. The Astros won the opener 3-1, then picked up a tight 2-1 victory in the nightcap.

Lamar Harvey went the distance to toss the Astros to the 3-1 win over Belmont in the lidlifter.

Kayzell Milton ripped three hits for the winners, including a bases-loaded single in the sixth to drive in Sunnyvale's first run. Bryan McCann's two-run double in the seventh proved the game-winner for the Astros.

Milton cracked a two-out triple in the third to start a two-run rally for Sunnyvale in the first game.

That was all McCann needed to pick up the mound win. Well, not quite all. McCann was touched for a run in the seventh and needed some relief help from Nick Duran and Ben Amiwero.

Duran, a southpaw, came on in relief of McCann to strike out a lefty, and Amiwero, a right-hander, took over to fan a right-side hitter for the game's final out.

Duran returned to the mound three days later as the Sunnyvale starter against Burlingame, and he went the distance to nail a 5-1 victory. Duran struck out five in the win, including the game's final batter.

The Astros hurler was aided by three double plays turned by the Sunnyvale defense.

Harvey snagged a liner in right and fired to first to double off a runner to get Duran out of a jam in the second.

Duran had a hand in each of the other two double plays. He struck out hitters with baserunners moving, and each time catcher Luke Donigian gunned down the runners attempting to steal.

McCann blasted a solo homer to center in the second inning to give the Astros the early lead, and Sunnyvale picked up two more runs in the second.

Art Wellersdick doubled and scored when Harvey reached on an error. Harvey later scored on an infield roller by Antoine Watts.

The Astros added two insurance runs in the sixth. Back-to-back doubles by Art Alegria and Brett Erickson gave Sunnyvale a run, and Erickson later scored on a wild pitch.

Sunnyvale made it four straight with a 4-3 come-from-behind win over Menlo Park on June 19.

McCann ripped a second-inning home run and the Astros built up a 3-0 lead early in the game.

But the Menlo Park Trojans battled back to tie it, 3-3.

Harvey broke the tie by plating a run with a squeeze bunt in the sixth, then he took the mound in the top of the seventh to nail down the victory.

McCann was the winning pitcher, and Harvey posted the save with his inning of scoreless relief work.

The Astros will return home to the Homestead High School diamond on June 29 to host Millbrae in an 11 a.m. doubleheader.

Little League

The Sunnyvale Metro, Southern, National and Serra little leagues will send major division all-star teams into District 44 tournament play this week.

Sunnyvale Southern and National will collide in a first-round game on June 27, 5:30 p.m., at the Tri-Cities Little League field in Cupertino.

Metro will take on Moreland on June 28, 11 a.m, at the Sunnyvale Southern field. Serra battles Santa Clara Homestead the same day at 2 p.m. on the same field.

The 9-10 age group tournament also begins this week with Serra battling Moreland on June 27, 5:30 p.m., at Tri-Cities, and the other three Sunnyvale teams opening June 28.

Southern faces Mountain View at 11 a.m. and National meets Santa Clara Homestead at 2 p.m. at the Southern field, and Metro hosts Los Altos Hills at 2 p.m. at its home diamond.

The junior and senior division all-star tournaments will begin July 7.

[ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ]

This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 25, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.