Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Three close games, but three wins for Pirates

By Dick Sparrer

Wins certainly didn't come easy for the Pirates in the major division of the Los Gatos Little League last week. But the wins came nonetheless, and the Bucs managed to hang onto first place in the league race.

The Pirates broke a 4-4 tie with three runs in the fourth and went on to record a 10-4 win over the Yankees to open the week. They came back with a pair of wins over the Giants, but in two more tough games.

The three wins leave the Pirates 8-0 in the division and two games up on the second place Yankees.

The Pirates trailed the Giants 1-0 before rallying for four runs in the fourth. They went on to nail a 6-1 win.

Later in the week, the Pirates had to go extra innings before claiming a 9-4 win over the Giants.

J.P. Grist helped the Pirates nail down the win over the Yankees to open the week. Grist tossed three innings of no-hit, no-run baseball to help shut down the Yanks after their solid start.

The clubs matched two-run rallies in the first and second innings, but the Pirates opened things up with three in the fourth and three more in the fifth. Grist blanked the Yanks over the last three.

Matt Seymour had four hits, including a triple, to drive in three runs and lead the Pirates at the plate.

Logan Schafer tripled and singled twice for the Pirates, and Nick Gaffney singled and doubled. Grist added two hits.

Nathan Swartley, Beau Brigham, Danny Bates and Bret Hampton each had run-scoring singles for the Yankees.

Cory Graham blasted a two-run homer in the third and a two-run double in the fourth to lead the Pirates to a 6-1 win over the Giants a couple of days later. Grist tossed the third three innings for the Bucs, fanning six and allowing just two hits, and Graham went the final three, striking out five.

Adam Hudson had two hits for the Pirates.

Kevin McCarty had two hits for the Giants, including a run-scoring single in the first to drive home Jake Schonig. Chad Rabello tossed three strong innings for the Giants.

The Pirates and Giants locked up in a tough game on Saturday. The Giants battled back with two runs in the sixth to tie the game 3-3 and send it into extra innings. Each club scored in the seventh before the Pirates broke it open with five in the eighth.

Gaffney doubled home two runs, and Hudson singled home two more in the eighth to lift the Pirates to the win.

A single by Mark Hansen drove in a key run for the Giants in the sixth, and Jeremy Bays raced home with the game-tying run on an infield chop by Rabello.

The Pirates took the lead in the top of the seventh when Schafer tripled and scored on a wild pitch, but the Giants answered back on singles by Andrew Milman, Bays and Hansen to tie it again.

That set the stage for the Pirates' eighth-inning rally.

Graham doubled twice for the Bucs and also threw three solid innings, giving up just a hit and a run while fanning seven. Charlie Self tossed the final two frames to get the win.

Hansen had three hits for the Giants, and Bays and Erik Rollin shared pitching chores.

The Indians and Cubs split a pair of games last week.

Liam Smith and Nick Perrone combined on a seven-hit shutout to lead the Indians to a 7-0 win over the Cubs. Smith fanned five and gave up four hits in three innings of work, and Perrone struck out four and allowed just three hits over the final three frames.

David Holtzman cracked a two-run single in the second inning for the Indians, and Greg Bridges had two hits.

Danny Politi cracked two doubles, and Kenny Rodrigues singled and doubled to lead the Cubs to the 7-5 win over the Tribe.

Noah Henry doubled for the Indians.

The Cubs had opened the week with a lopsided 21-3 win over the Rangers. Ryan Presley went the distance to claim the mound win, fanning four and giving up just four hits. He also led the bat attack with four hits, including a couple of doubles, to drive in four runs and score four runs.

Gus Winkleman doubled and singled twice, and D. Politi had three hits. Tyler Carnathan had two hits to drive in three runs, and Louis Santoro doubled. Spencer Maltbie and Nick Politi each had two hits.

Daniel Searles doubled for the Rangers.

The Rangers lost an extra-innings heartbreaker to the Yankees later in the week. The Yanks had to score twice in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game 8-8 and send it into extra innings. The Yanks scored again in the seventh to win it.

It was a key win for the Yankees, who trail the Pirates by two games in the race for the league title. The Yanks came back last Saturday to pound the Rangers 23-0 in four innings.

Jason Livingstone tossed three strong innings to get the win, allowing just two hits and striking out four.

Michael Robards had four hits, including a double, to lead the offensive attack. Swartley and Steve Whitman each doubled and singled twice in the win, and Bates and Emerson DiNapoli had two hits apiece.

Tommy Towson doubled for the Rangers.

Bryan Ceglio raced around the bases for an inside-the-park grand slam, and Devin Scott blasted a three-run homer to lead the Padres to a 12-9 win over the Marlins. It was the first victory of the year for the Pads. The Marlins came back with a 10-0 win over the Padres later in the week.

Rishi Satia and Matt Martini combined for a three-hit shutout in the Expos' 5-0 win over the A's. Satia allowed just one hits over the first three innings, striking out four in his stint. Martini fanned four and gave up two hits.

Satia and Martini had two hits apiece in the win, and Kevin Gallagher tripled.

Jesse Barron and Danny Sullivan each doubled for the A's, and Wes Piper tossed three strong innings, giving up just a run and fanning five.

Los Gatos Little League major division standings (as of April 25): Pirates 8-0, Yankees 6-2, Expos 5-2, Cubs 5-3, Indians 4-4, Marlins 4-4, Giants 3-5, A's 2-5, Padres 1-7, Rangers 1-7.

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