The Sunnyvale Sun

Sports

Mustangs step up with big performances

By Mike Barnhart

The good times were flowing through the Homestead athletic program last week.

While the school was hosting the second day of the El Camino Division swimming trials on May 3, there was plenty of excitement out on the athletic fields.

Led by Kevin Labadie's pitching and Evan Marshall's hitting, coach Chuck Camuso's baseball team was clinching the El Camino Division championship with a 13-0 win over second-place Saratoga.

Led by the no-hit, no-run pitching of junior Becca Gularte and the power hitting of senior Lauren Gniadek, coach Steve Allemandi's softball team jumped all over Cupertino 12-0 in a De Anza Division game.

Later, in the gym, coach Matt Hoffman's boys volleyball team--the top-ranked unit in the Central Coast Section--put the finishing touches on its second consecutive undefeated Santa Clara Valley Athletic League season with a four-game win over second-place Mountain View.

A day earlier at Saratoga, varsity track and field athletes Jaraad Mamoon and Emily Evans, along with frosh-soph boys Luke Rosener and Jeffrey Lam (100) and JV girls Lyndsie Okumura (400) and Nicole Haight (shot put), became El Camino champions. Mamoon won the boys discus (151-07) and shot put (46-4.5) events, and Evans claimed first in the girls 1,600 meters with 5:18.79. Rosener, a member of the volleyball team, won three frosh-soph events--the high jump (6-0), shot put (49-1.5) and discus (123-4).

Volleyball

By beating Saratoga and Mountain View last week, Homestead finished 16-0 in league play and 34-3 overall.

As in 2006, the Mustangs received the top seed in the 16-team CCS play-offs that begin on May 10. They hope this year's result will be different, though. The Mustangs suffered a stunning four-game setback in last season's quarterfinals to No. 8 seed Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Their first-round opponent will be Harker (22-12 overall), the Private Schools Athletic League champion. Homestead will host the Eagles Thursday at 7 p.m. If the Mustangs move on, they will meet either No. 9 San Lorenzo Valley (15-11) or No. 8 Leigh (27-9), the Blossom Valley Athletic League winner, in the quarterfinals May 12 at Independence in San Jose. The semifinals, May 15, and the finals two days later also will be held at Independence.

The other teams in Homestead's bracket include three SCVAL teams, No. 12 and defending champion Los Gatos (23-15), No. 5 Mountain View (33-5) and No. 13 Saratoga (15-16), and No. 4 St. Francis (31-7).

The opposite eight-team bracket includes No. 2 Mt. Madonna (25-4) and No. 3 Bellarmine (33-8), the West Catholic Athletic League champ.

Baseball

After Labadie pitched a complete-game 3-hitter against Saratoga, with Marshall falling just a double shy of hitting for the cycle and Andrew Pardo also getting three hits, Homestead (12-1, 19-6) had a three-game lead with just two games to play, a home-and-home set with Santa Clara.

As El Camino champion, Homestead gained an automatic berth into the 40-team CCS playoffs, which begin on May 16. It will be the Mustangs' first appearance since 2003.

Earlier in the week, Marshall (8-3) suffered a rare pitching defeat, a 2-1 decision at Saratoga. Marshall struck out eight batters and walked none, giving him 95 strikeouts and just 25 walks in 76 innings. The junior standout has allowed only 12 earned runs this season.

Fremont (6-6, 11-14) swept Lynbrook, winning 4-3 in eight innings and 11-1. Sam Kesten had two hits and an RBI in the extra-inning win at Lynbrook. Mike Appio rapped three of Fremont's nine hits and Kenney Pope and Rob Ramer homered in the rout at Fremont.

The King's Academy (9-2, 15-4-1) fell hard to unbeaten Sacred Heart Prep (12-0, 17-8) for the second time in Private Schools Athletic League play. The 10-1 loss means that the Knights will need an at-large bid to reach the CCS Division III tournament. Pairings will be determined on May 12.

Softball

Gniadek, Homestead's only four-year player, blasted a grand slam and had three hits to support Gularte's no-hitter against Cupertino. In a 3-0 loss to Monta Vista, Gniadek had the only hit for Homestead (5-6, 9-13-1).

Fremont continued to lead the El Camino Division, but the Firebirds' lead got slimmer. After whipping Gunn 12-0, the Firebirds (10-1, 17-5-1) dropped a 6-1 decision to Wilcox (6-4, 13-11-1).

Fremont needed to win at Santa Clara (8-2, 15-10) on May 7 to clinch the title.

Track

While Homestead's Mamoon was a double winner in the boys competition at the El Camino finals, Fremont middle distance ace Elijah Carrillo turned in an outstanding double of his own.

Carrillo finished second to Mountain View's Robbie Reid in the 1,600 with a time (4:32.82) that would have won the De Anza Division meet. He returned for the 800 and placed third in 2:03.58.

Mamoon and Carrillo will join the other top finishers from the De Anza and El Camino finals in the SCVAL Qualifier meet May 11 at Los Gatos.

The 16 best boys and girls in each event at the division meets will vie for the league's five qualifying berths into the CCS semifinals May 19 at San Jose City College. The CCS finals will be held on May 25 at Gilroy High.

Other boys that advanced from the El Camino meet to the qualifier included Fremont sprinter Ryan Staab, who placed third in the 200 (23.85) and fourth in the 100 (11.66), and Homestead jumper Kevin Quock, who bounded 40-3.5 for second in the triple jump and 18-11 for fifth in the long jump.

Homestead's Austin Lopez, who placed second in the shot put with a heave of 43-8.5, also advanced in the discus. Fremont senior R.J. Rivera moved on with a fifth-place shot put mark of 41-4.5. High hurdlers Tim Brown of Fremont and Dale Ishizaki-Brown of Homestead and sprinter Stanley Szeto (100) of Homestead also advanced.

Homestead's Evans, who had a seventh-place finish in the girls 300 hurdles to go along with her 1,600 win, will be joined at the qualifier by teammates Sarah Engle (100 hurdles, high jump, pole vault), Jennifer Garnett (400), Aubreanna Bobb (100, 200), Carolyn Newswanger (300 hurdles), Anisha Mazloom (300 hurdles) and Alissa Hayes (high jump).

Fremont freshman Jillian Weir advanced in both throwing events, after taking fourth in the discus (95-9) and fifth in the shot put (29-10) in the El Camino meet. Sprinter Brittany Van Schravendijk advanced after a fifth-place finish in the 200.