Thomas, Sullivan turn out impressive pitching stats

By Dick Sparrer

There weren't many bats belting baseballs in Los Gatos Little League major division action last Saturday--at least not when Derek Thomas of the Yankees and Danny Sullivan of the A's were in there pitching.

Thomas struck out 13 in five innings of work to lead the Yanks to a 5-2 win over the Giants, and Sullivan followed with 16 strikeouts in six innings when he went the distance for the A's in an 8-4 win over the Indians.

Thomas was eligible to pitch just five innings on Saturday after tossing an inning in an 8-5 loss to the Giants on Monday. And, boy, did he ever pitch those five innings.

Thomas blanked the Giants on just one hit, and 13 of the 15 outs recorded during his stint came via the strikeout.

The Yanks jumped out to a 5-0 lead with three runs in the second and two in the fifth. Riley Katolin led the offensive attack with a pair of singles and two runs scored.

The Giants didn't hit the scoreboard until Thomas had retired from the hill. A.J. Comeau and Ryan Black each singled in the sixth and raced home on a double by Trevor Campbell.

Earlier in the week, Comeau was four-for-four with a couple of doubles and three runs scored to lead the Giants past the Yanks 8-5. Will Kapp had three hits, and Black added two.

Jake Jensen had two hits for the Yanks, and Steven Krach and Kyle Snowden each doubled.

The Giants had beaten the Rangers 8-5 a week earlier. Black singled and doubled in the win, and Jake Walker and Mark Hasson each had two hits for the Rangers.

The Yankees were coming off of back-to-back wins. Katolin tossed a complete game, striking out six, to lead the Yanks to a 6-4 win over the Indians, and Thomas went the distance for a win over the Padres.

Sullivan backed up Thomas' superb outing with a mighty impressive performance of his own last Saturday. The 12-year-old went the distance to flip a four-hitter, striking out 16.

The A's set the tone early with a five-run outburst in the first. Nick Nowack ripped a two-run homer, Kyle Blair cracked a run-scoring double, and Steve Stege and Kyle Dietrich each singled home runs. Stege and Dietrich each had two hits in the win.

Matt Perrone doubled home a run in the sixth for the Indians.

Blair had tossed a complete game earlier in the week to lead the A's to a 4-2 win over the Indians. The 11-year-old hurler fanned 10 and gave up just one hit, a second-inning double by Zack Sylvester.

Blair also led the offensive attack with a couple of singles and three runs-batted-in. Sullivan also doubled home a run.

In the only other game last Saturday, the Pirates outlasted the Marlins 9-8. Stephen Genetti tossed the final three innings to pick up the win for the Bucs. He struck out three and allowed just one hit.

The Pirates went up 1-0 in the first when Justin Schafer doubled and scored on a single by Danny Frey.

But the Marlins scored three unearned runs in the first and three more runs in the third to go up 6-1. Consecutive doubles by Colby Moore, Derek Fredericks and Ben Hintz sparked the third-inning rally for the Marlins.

But the Pirates rallied for eight runs in the fourth and held off a late comeback bid by the Marlins.

Schafer of the Pirateshad two hits in the win, and Moore doubled twice for the Marlins. Scott Sanders also doubled in the loss.

Earlier in the week, Genetti tossed three strong innings and also ripped two hits and drove in five runs to lead the Pirates to a 13-1 win over the Marlins.

Genetti ripped a two-run single, drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, singled home a run and walked with the bags full to push in another run.

Frey tripled and singled for the Bucs, Schafer had two hits to drive in two runs, and Matt McCarty ripped a two-run single.

Moore singled and doubled for the Marlins, and Nathan Garvey doubled.

The Padres held onto a share of first place with a 7-1 win over the Cardinals. Jason Stein tossed three scoreless innings to get the win. He struck out three and allowed just one hit.

Stein, Eric McDonald and David Pavicich had two hits each in the game for the Pads.

Nick Schradle singled in the fifth to knock in the only run of the game for the Cardinals.

The Cards were coming off of an 8-5, eight inning win over the Pirates. Forrest Gallien ripped a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to break a 5-5 tie and give his club the victory.

Gallien singled, doubled and homered to drive in four runs in the win. Rusty Wall had two hits and Kourosh Behnam doubled. Wall also struck out 10 in six strong innings.

Genetti flipped six innings for the Pirates, fanning five. He also doubled for the Bucs. Mitchell Benedetti had two hits, and Daniel Silva doubled.

Navneet Hakhu tossed a complete game to lead the Rangers to a 10-7 win over the Cubs. Walker singled and doubled, and Cody Sanford and Mark Hasson each doubled in the win for the Rangers.

Robbie Perry doubled twice and singled to lead the Cubs at the plate. Louis Santoro and Nick Politi ripped three hits apiece, and Paul Politi slapped a pair of singles.

The Cubs had beaten the A's 3-1 a week earlier on a three-hitter by Marty Mullins. The Cubbies' hurler struck out eight and walked just one in the win.

Wes Howell, N. Politi and Santoro each singled in a two-run rally in the third, and Mullins singled and scored on a double by Howell in the fifth.

Sullivan, who went the distance and struck out nine in the loss, singled home the A's only run in the first.

Danny Brassfield tossed a one-hitter and struck out six to lead the Indians to a 14-1 win over the Marlins. Sanders doubled in the fourth for the Marlins' only hit.

Perrone doubled and singled twice for the Tribe and Sylvester, Chad Bannan and David Martini had two hits each. Brassfield doubled, and lead-off hitter Chris Keesling singled and walked three times to score four runs.

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Los Gatos Little League major division standings (as of Saturday, April 29): Cubs 7-2, Padres 7-2, A's 6-3, Indians 6-4, Pirates 5-5, Yankees 5-5, Rangers 3-6, Giants 3-7, Marlins 3-7, Cardinals 2-6.

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