Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Sliding safely into third is J.P. Grist of the Pirates. Grist and the Bucs pulled out a 5-2 win over the Yankees in the battle of the two unbeaten teams in the Los Gatos Little League major division.

Bucs win in battle for 1st

Indians, Expos win in close games

By Dick Sparrer

It was the battle for first place, and it looked like it. The Pirates and Yankees were battling for the top spot in the Los Gatos Little League major division last Friday night, and they looked every bit like the top two teams in the circuit when they were locked in a tight 3-1 battle through four innings.

The Yanks had jumped out 1-0 in the first, but the Pirates scored three in the third to take a slim 3-1 lead.

The Pirates, though, scored two more runs in the fifth, and the Yankees could answer with just one in the sixth.

The result was a 5-2 victory for the Bucs, who moved into sole ownership of first place in the division with the win. The Pirates are 5-0 in the young season with the Yanks just a game back at 4-1.

The decisive rally came in the third when the Bucs took the lead for good with three runs. Logan Schafer beat out a bunt single and Adam Hudson reached on an error.

J.P. Grist singled home a run, and after Hudson scored when Cory Graham reached on an error, Matt Seymour singled in a third run.

It remained 3-1 until the fifth, when the Pirates struck again. Justin Schafter walked, and Hudson belted a one-out single. Grist singled home a run, and Graham drove home another with a ground out to give the Bucs a 5-1 lead.

The Yankees didn't go down without a fight. Michael Robards doubled and scored on a single by Jason Livingstone to cut the lead to 5-2. But Graham settled down to strike out the side to nail down the win.

Grist, who was three-for-three with a double for the Pirates, tossed the first three innings, striking out seven and allowing just two walks and a hit. Graham pitched the final three frames, fanning nine and walking none.

Livingstone fanned two over the first three innings for the Yankees, and Robards struck out three over the last three innings.

The Yanks had scored first in the game with a run in the first. Kyle Jensen walked to open the game and took second on a wild pitch. He scored on Livingstone's single up the middle.

The Indians and Expos also nailed exciting victories last week. The Indians scored twice in the sixth to edge the A's 3-2, and the Expos scored three in the fifth to turn back the Padres 6-4.

The Indians were three outs away from dropping a Saturday decision to the A's when they entered the last of the sixth down 2-1. But B.J. Lawler kept the Tribe alive with a leadoff walk.

Zack Sylvester dropped a bunt in hopes of moving the potential tying run into scoring position. But the Indians got more than they bargained for when the throw sailed down the right field line, and Lawler scored all the way from first to tie the game.

Sylvester, though, could get not farther than first base because of a collision at the bag.

But as if by instant replay, the Indians struck again. This time it was Liam Smith putting down the bunt in hopes moving the potential winning run into scoring position. Once more, though, the throw flew down the line, and Sylvester raced around to score.

Nick Perrone, David Holtzman and Smith teamed to toss the Indians to the win. Perrone struck out five over the first three innings, then Holtzman came on to fan three. He left the game in the fifth, though, with a sore arm. Smith finished up, striking out two in an inning-plus to get the win.

Wes Piper threw four-plus innings for the A's, leaving the mound with a 2-1 lead.

The A's had taken the early lead in the game with a couple of runs in the third. Danny Sullivan singled and scored on a triple by Paul Elias. Nick Gionfriddo drove in the second run with an infield roller.

The Indians got a run back in the home half of the third when Michael Dundars reached on an error and scored on a triple by Perrone. Spencer Doyle ripped a double in the game.

The Indians had won by forfeit over the A's earlier in the week.

Earlier in the day on Saturday, the Expos fought back from a 4-3 deficit to pull out a 6-4 win over the Padres.

The game started out as a pitchers' duel, with Matt Martini of the Expos and Nick Guedenet of the Padres matching zeroes through three innings. The hurlers were locked in a scoreless tie before leaving the mound after three innings, then the Expos opened things up with three runs in the fourth.

A two-run double by 10-year-old Rusty Wall keyed the three-run rally in the fourth. Wall scored the third run of the innings on a ground out by Richi Satia.

But the Padres fought back for four runs in the fifth to take the lead. A run-scoring double by Chris Defty, a two-run single by Jerret Kasper and a run-scoring single by Jared Murphy gave the Pads the 4-3 lead in the game.

Then it was the Expos' turn for a comeback. They scored three times in the home half of the fifth, then battled out of a basesloaded jam in the top of the sixth to pull out the 6-4 win over the Padres.

Wall was three-for-three in the win, and Jack Wall singled twice and scored two runs.

Murphy and Guedenet slapped two hits apiece for the Padres, and David Pavicich tripled.

The Expos had opened the week with a lopsided 9-1 win over the Padres. Martini tossed three perfect innings to open the game for the Expos and Satia pitched the final three frames. Each hurler struck out four.

J. Wall doubled and singled twice to drive in two runs for the Expos. Chris Danser was three-for-three with a walk, scoring two runs and driving in two more, and Marc Helleboid was three-for-three and scored three times.

The Giants picked up two wins over the Marlins last week, winning by forfeit on Tuesday before winning 6-2 on Saturday.

Eric Rollin and Jeremy Bays tossed three innings apiece in the victory. Mark Hansen had two hits, including a two-run single in the second, and Kevin McCarty had two hits for the Giants.

Marc Ericson was three-for-three for the Marlins.

The Cubs knocked off the Rangers 10-2 in other action last week. The Rangers led 2-1 after three innings before the Cubs broke the game open.

Ryan Presley and Danny Politi tossed three innings each in the win. Politi blanked the Cubs over the final three frames, fanning five. Presley struck out four over the first three innings.

Politi was three-for-four with a two-run double in the fourth and a bases-loaded triple in the fifth to lead the offense for the Cubs. Kenny Rodrigues was three-for-three with a walk, Presley had two hits and Sean Fetke doubled.

Josh Miceli tossed three strong innings for the Rangers, giving up just a single run over the first three frames.

Los Gatos Little League major division standings (through April 18): Pirates 5-0, Yankees 4-1, Expos 4-2, Cubs 3-2, Giants 3-3, Indians 3-3, Marlins 3-3, A's 2-4, Rangers 1-4, Padres 0-6.

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