By DICK SPARRER
It was some kind of déjà vu.
Each time the all-star teams from the Cupertino American and Sunnyvale National Little Leagues collided in the District 44 senior division tournament, they were playing for the same thing-- a shot at the Briarwood-El Camino all-stars.
But while the goal was the same, the results were much different.
Cupertino and Sunnyvale met early in the tourney with sights set on the finals of the winner's bracket against Briarwood.
More importantly, though, they met again a few days later with the winner moving on to the tournament championship game against Briarwood.
Cupertino won the first game, beating Sunnyvale 9-3 to drop National into the loser's bracket. But it was Sunnyvale beating Cupertino 7-4 to earn a spot in the tourney title game.
Sunnyvale National lost 4-1 to Briarwood-El Camino of Santa Clara in the finals to settle for second in the senior tournament.
National outhit Santa Clara 4-3 in the title game, but could manage just a single run in the third. Curtis Sanders, Bobby Davidson, Albert Martinez and David Quinones each ripped singles for Sunnyvale in the game.
Sunnyvale earned the spot in the championship game with a thrilling 7-4 win over Cupertino American.
The clubs were tied 3-3 heading into the seventh, but a two-run single by Davidson keyed a four-run rally to lift Sunnyvale to the victory.
Roberto Garcia slapped a pair of hits for National in the win, and Andre Sorba and Duston Lindberg also had singles. Jason Placencia was the winning pitcher.
Chris Geren was stuck with the mound loss, despite striking out seven for American. Justin Roberts had a pair of hits for Cupertino, and Richard Shen singled.
Sunnyvale had opened the tourney with a 9-8 win over Los Altos. Sorba knocked in the game-winning run for National and was also the winning pitcher. Davidson had two hits to drive in a pair of runs and Quinones singled and doubled. Lindberg ripped a double and Sorba and Sanders knocked in two runs apiece.
Sunnyvale lost 9-3 to Cupertino American a game later to fall into the loser's bracket, but then won three straight to get to the finals-- beating Santa Clara Homestead 7-1, Cupertino National 10-6 and Cupertino American 7-4.
Marcus Fulcher, Domingo Trujillo, Arnold Trujillo, Jonathan Wilson, Matthew Villasenor and Pedro Hernandez were other members of the Sunnyvale National all-star team. Richard Quinones was the manager and his coaches were Johnny Hernandez and John Davidson.
Cupertino American had opened the tourney with a 5-3 win over rival Tri-Cities.
Nicholas Kouvaris and Geren combined to toss a five-hitter for the win. Geren singled home a pair of runs and Vikram Rajagopal singled home a run to key a five-run rally in the fifth for American. Ryan Quadro ripped a double in the win.
Nate Barczi slapped three hits to lead the attack for Tri-Cities.
American came right back with the 9-3 win over Sunnyvale National before losing back-to-back games to Briarwood-El Camino 6-2 and Sunnyvale National 7-4.
In other tournament action, Cupertino National opened with a 25-0 win over Sunnyvale Southern before losing 11-1 to Briarwood. National beat Los Altos 9-4, but lost to Sunnyvale National 10-6.
Tri-Cities lost 11-4 to Los Altos in the first round of the loser's bracket and Sunnyvale Southern lost 10-9 to Santa Clara Homestead.
Making up the Sunnyvale Southern all-star team were Brad Traina, Chris Traina, David Kempe, Jeffrey Csillag, Jonathan Frecceri, Luke Sandoval, Steven Eggers, Trevor Frederickson, Brian Holquin, Bryan Skitt, James Bond, Jeffery Williams, Mathew Monte and Pooya Shahi. The manager was Art Cotant and his coaches were Ray Skitt and Bryon Tada.
Girls' softball
Sunnyvale sent four girls softball teams into postseason play.
Members of the Sunnyvale Metro senior division all-star team were Jasmine Arriola, Cortney Canter, Leilano Castro, Sarah Collins, Mary Dunn, Robin Glass, Jennifer Henderson, Samantha Hess, Kim Juanes, Melissa Kelly, Jennifer Krajicek, Stephanie Miran, Rachel Sherman and Jennifer Villanueva. The team was managed by Rudy Castro and his coaches were Jim Collins and Pedo Miran.
Making up the Sunnyvale Metro major division all-star team were Natalie Robles, Jennifer Nicholson, Christina Puentes, Lindsey Chavers, Summer Simpson, Tawni Mechikoff, Susan Fryer, Meghan Richmond, Kristina Hayes, Sheila Feldman, Michelle Heick, Lori Parsons, Brandi Tomasovitch and Tina Renner. The team was managed by Mike Juanes and his coaches were Sid Chavers and Paul Parsons.
Playing for the Sunnyvale National major division all-stars were Nicole Rivas, Jenna Broker, Sara Placencia, Karlee Belcastro, Joanna harris, Misti Lopez, Angelina Vargas, Jessica Bowlds, Jennifer Oldham, Desirie Magtangob, Cassie Padfield, Stacy Castanola, Marcella Lovelace and Angela Abuia. The manager was Sharon Zolezzi and her coaches were Bruce Dale and Dave Malone.
The Sunnyvale Southern Little League sent a team to the major softball tournament. Team members included Amelia Alexander, Danielle Bailey, Christina Cochran, Rachel Linn, Sara Mullen, Karina Puente, Kelly Colvin, Kellie Corcoran, Joy Krajicek, Wende Blasquez, Marie Kooman, Karen Purdy, Kelly Spencer and Andrea Watson. The team was managed by Bob Alexander and his coaches were Dan Purdy and Bob Kinder.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, August 14, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.