Almaden Resident
Sports
Wegner, Rocca leads all-stars to key win
By Kevin Sparrer
Finding a player that stands out for a team that has 18 hits in a game would be difficult, but finding two is easy.
William Wegner and Markus Rocca knocked the ball all over the yard for the Almaden Little League South 9-year-old all-star team in a 12-6 over Cambrian Park in the south pool of the District 12 All-Star tournament on June 30. Almaden finished with a 4-0 record in pool play.
Wegner and Rocca combined for six hits with three apiece, each with a triple, and both scored three times. Together they provided a third of the hits for the team and half of the runs--some would call that a good day at the ballpark.
David Gonzalez added some offense with two hits, including a double, and he also scored. Wyatt Rhineri, Jake Dabak and Jacob Dermer each had two hits and scored, Kevin Cance added two hits, Adam Dietz doubled, Bryan Carl singled, and both Trevor Weinstock and Vinnie Sunzeri scored.
On June 28 Almaden South defeated Quito 11-8 with Cance swinging the big stick. Cance knocked two hits, including a double, and he scored once. Both Rhineri and Weinstock had two hits and scored, Tyler Nelson ripped a triple and scored, Dietz and Wegner singled and scored twice, Dabak and Rocca added a hit, and Dermer, Gonzalez and Carl each scored.
Almaden topped San Jose American 11-1 on June 26 for the second win of the tournament. Rhineri knocked three hits and scored three times in the win, while both Wegner and Nelson had two hits, including a double, and they both scored once. Dermer had two hits, including a triple, and scored; Rocca and Gonzalez both singled and scored; Dabak, Dietz and Carl singled; and Cance, Weinstock and Sunzeri scored.
It was Nelson who led the offense for Almaden in its first win over Los Gatos American 13-3 on June 23. Nelson had three hits, including a triple, and was able to score twice.
The Almaden South team outscored its opponents 47-18, scoring more than 10 runs in each game. It was to play Lincoln Glen on July 2 to decide who would advance to the championship game on July 5 at the Willow Glen Little League field.
The Almaden North team didn't have quite as much success in the tournament, finishing 2-2 in the north pool.
The North team fell in its last two games. On June 30, it lost to Saratoga 12-5 and on June 28 dropped a close one to Willow Glen 9-8.
Almaden defeated Lincoln Glen 12-11 on June 26, with Sam Vogel leading the way with three hits and scoring twice. David Greene had two hits and scored twice. Matt Lee smacked two hits and scored, John-Louis Chiappe singled and scored three times; Matthew Goldstein, Brit Hausmann and Collin van Eijk each singled and scored; and Matt Clark, Blake Jack-o, Mikey Reickerd and Christopher Karabatsos singled.
The North's first win came over Los Gatos National 9-7 on June 23.
This time it was Goldstein who led the offense with a trio of hits and two runs scored. Vogel singled and scored twice; Lee doubled; Clark and Greene both singled and scored; Hausmann, Reickerd and Jordan Alejandre each singled; and Eijk, Chiappe and Karabtsos scored.
Almaden All-Stars
Almaden also has two teams in the 10-year-old all-star tournament.
The members of the South team are Kevin Asplund, Cooper Burrill, Drew Deaton, Ryan Edelman, Josh Flores, Nicholas Marcoccia, Sam McDonald, Nolan Meadows, Daniel Raley, Erik Sargis, Joshua Wells and Andrew Young.
The North team includes Max Aiken, Brandon Blum, Curt Calomeni, Scott Clark, Daniel Del Carlo, Justin Dunne, Brent Easton, Tyler Moore, Troy Much, Peter Pecora, Anthony Santamoor and Chris Schumacher.
There are two teams in the 11-year-old division.
The South roster includes Connor Anderson, Connor Bloom, Conner DiNaro, Jared Ferguson, Logan Glaspy, Austin Karr, Andrew Lee, Zachary Nollette, John Raineri, Nick Rinauro, Roland Schmidt and Brett Watanabe.
The North team roster is Matthew Ashley, Eric Beauchamp, Cale Brendlen, Dakota Calvert, Derek Hogle, Kyle Marinconz, Scott McCoy, Travis McCurdy, Matty McLaughlin, Matthew Mohs, Joshua Pederson and Steven Vega.
There are also two major division teams.
The South team includes Dylan Bell, Matthew Brass, Doug Frazier, Scott Keighley, Troy Kenyon, Jacob Martinez, Travis Painter, Ryan Perry, Jack Pizzo, Matthew Triplett, Rohan Varma and Andrew Wakefield.
The North major team is Nicholas Bachmeier, Michael Bellinger, Ryan Brown, Eric Caldwell, Bret Hausmann, Alex Josten, Kyle Marquez, Ben Maxwell, Brett Nakano, Michael Rocca, Mitchell White and Matt Woodley.
