"I just thought, we'll be all right when we get everyone there," the 71-year-old head coach chuckled. "I told some of those kids they were lucky they caught me in my last year and not in my younger years."

Camuso will make this baseball season--his 21st at Homestead and 38th at the varsity level--his last one. He plans on enjoying it!

Last week, when the weather cooperated long enough for the Mustangs to play a league game, they made the old coach smile. Sophomore Evan Marshall pitched a complete-game 4-hitter at Lynbrook, while seniors Mike Lawler and Derek Hargis paced the offense. The result was a 7-1 Homestead triumph over the Vikings.

Lawler, an ice hockey player who did not go out for baseball last year, is "a real No. 4 hitter," Camuso said. "He hits everything hard, and nothing is an easy out."

Against Lynbrook, Lawler ripped a pair of hits, including a double, and drove in two runs. He also stole three bases. Hargis also had two of the Mustangs' nine hits.

When not on the mound, Marshall plays shortstop, teaming with senior second baseman Tony DelVecchio, junior center fielder Erik Taubman and senior catcher Nacho Bermudez for "a strong defense up the middle," Camuso said.

When senior pitcher Kyle Dukes' right arm is healthy, Camuso can feature four all-leaguers up the center of the diamond. Marshall, the team's Most Valuable Player as a freshman, and Taubman were first team selections by the SCVAL El Camino Division coaches last season. Dukes was a second team pick and Bermudez was honorable mention.

Junior Alex Jones and senior Sam Wood also return from the 2005 squad that went 10-8 in the El Camino Division and shared third place with Monta Vista.

Junior Andrew Pardo, a frosh-soph player a year ago, is the varsity first baseman this year. Camuso expects solid contributions from two other juniors from the frosh-soph, twin brothers Brian and Kevin Labadie. Kevin should throw some innings for the pitching staff, while Brian will see action on the infield and in the outfield.

Other team members are seniors Brandon Ward and Jake Kreiss, juniors Rustin Afshordi, Mike Barton, Brian Brandis and Ben Lewis and sophomores Rex Blodgett and Danny Esquivel. Camuso has two assistant coaches, Mike Barton and Rob Flowers.

Weather permitting, the Mustangs (1-0, 2-4) will be in action three times this week. They will sandwich a pair of El Camino road games around a non-league home date with The King's Academy. After playing at Fremont on March 21, the Mustangs host TKA at 3:30 p.m. on March 23, then go to Los Altos for a noon game on March 25.

Fremont, with nine games under its belt already, entered the Homestead game 1-3 in El Camino play and 3-6 overall.

The King's Academy took a 3-4 record into its Private Schools Athletic League opener March 21 against visiting Fremont Christian. In games last week, the Knights blanked Saint Thomas More of San Jose 10-0, two days after dropping a tough 6-2 contest to Evergreen Valley.

Senior catcher Tim Svozil had three hits and three RBI in the Knights' win. Freshman Nick Backlund drove in two runs with a home run and a single, and he scored three runs. Senior Danny Clarkson also had two hits and two RBI. Senior Tim Liu (four innings) and sophomore Chris Gustafson (two) combined on a 3-hitter in a game called after six innings.

Against Evergreen, Back lund's double and Svozil's single were the only hits for King's. Backlund and junior center fielder Evan Chaney scored the team's runs. The Knights led 2-0 through four innings, behind some good pitching by junior Corbett Clarke, but Evergreen rallied for three runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth.

Svozil finished the Knights' first seven games with 13 RBI, eight extra-base hits and a .609 batting average, all team bests. Backlund (.563), junior Brent Bethel (.471) and Clarkson (.435) all have been swinging hot bats.