Ellis, Blair help A's hold Little League top spot

By Dick Sparrer

Matt Ellis and Kyle Blair are young pitchers who are proving to be tough to hit this spring in the major division of the Los Gatos Little League.

And because of it, the A's are proving pretty tough to beat.

The Red Sox and Cardinals found how just how tough recently when they challenged the league-leading A's in major action.

Ellis and Blair combined efforts to blank the Sox 7-0, then they came back with a combined shutout in a 12-0 win over the Cardinals two days later.

The two hurlers didn't blank the Cards when they met in a Saturday game that same week, but they did team up to pitch the A's to a 4-1 victory.

The three wins helped the A's remain alone in first place in the division standings and pushed them four games up on the second-place Braves. The A's top the pack at 13-1 with the Braves in second at 9-5.

It's in second place where the real race is on in the Los Gatos major division. Through May 12, only three games separated the second-place Braves from the seventh-place Marlins.

It doesn't appear that any team can catch the A's in the race for the regular season title, but second place is equally as coveted, at least when it comes time for the league tournament at the season's end.

The regular season winds up on May 27, and the top two finishers draw first-round byes in the league tourney that will begin May 29.

The A's will likely get one of those byes, and they helped their cause in that regard with the win over the Red Sox and two wins over the Cardinals recently.

Ellis faced the minimum nine hitters over the first three innings on his way to the mound win in the 7-0 win over the Red Sox. He was touched for one hit, but that runner was gunned down attempting to steal. Ellis struck out six of the nine hitters he faced.

Nick Kalpin cracked a two-run single in the first to key a three-run rally for the A's. Kalpin and Brian Johnson added run-scoring singles in the third, and Blair tripled home a run in the fourth.

Garrett Blackwell had two hits in the loss for the Red Sox.

Blair was 5-for-5 with a double and scored three runs in the 12-0 win over the Cardinals two days later. He also tossed three scoreless innings in the win, fanning five.

Steve Stege was 3-for-3 in the win and John Gallien and Darren Churchill added two hits apiece.

Ellis started for the A's, blanking the Cards on three hits. He also struck out five.

Blair came back with three more shutout innings in the 4-1 win over the Cardinals, striking out six. He ripped a solo homer in the fifth and singled home a run in the third. Ellis flipped a couple of scoreless innings and Brian Johnson knocked in a run in the first with a double.

Woody Wilkerson tossed three strong innings for the Cards in the loss, striking out six. Michael Picone singled and doubled and Frank Fritsch ripped a double.

The Braves and Giants each won twice and the Indians beat the Tigers to keep things tight in the race for second place.

The Braves two-timed the Yankees 6-3 and 9-4 to improve to 9-5 in league play.

Eric McDonald tossed three innings to get the win and Daniel Norvelle struck out six of the final three frames in the Braves' 6-3 win over the Yanks.

David Cardinale had two hits, including a run-scoring double in the four-run second. Nick Elias added a two-run single in the second.

Steve Zavodnick added two hits in the win and Ryan Honda blasted a double.

Bricklin Foley had two hits for the Yankees.

Norvelle fired three scoreless innings, striking out four and allowing just one hit, to lead the Braves to the 9-4 win over the Yankees. Zavodnick, McDonald and Chad Manning had two hits each for the Braves.

Kevin Connelly doubled and singled twice for the Yanks and Andrew Scales doubled.

The Giants beat the Red Sox 6-2 and 3-2 to improve to 8-6 for the year.

Evan Bolton held the Sox scoreless in the third, fourth and fifth innings to get the pitching win. He struck out six in his three innings of work.

Ryan Black singled and doubled and Will Kapp doubled in the win.

Raymond Salazar threw five strong innings for the Sox, striking out six. Craig Olsen's run-scoring single in the first was the only Red Sox hit in the game.

Kiko Alonso and Black combined for a four-hitter in a tight 3-2 win over the Red Sox. Alonso struck out five in three innings and Black fanned six over the final three.

Kapp and Evan Bolton ripped two hits apiece to lead the offensive effort for the Giants.

Olsen went the distance to flip a four-hitter for the Red Sox but was tagged with the tough loss. Salazar tripled and Mark Hasson ripped a run-scoring single for the Sox.

Riley Curran homered twice to lead the Indians to a 12-7 win over the Tigers. The Indians pushed their record to 8-5 with the win.

Curran belted a two-run homer in the second and a solo shot in the fourth. He came back with a run-scoring single in the fourth.

David Martini and Lucas DeMilo each singled and doubled in the win and Jeremy Cleveland, Noah Henry and Karlo Winkelman each doubled.

Geoff Doss also had two hits.

Mitchell Benedetti smashed a three-run homer in the first inning for the Tigers.

In other action, the Cubs and Marlins split in a pair of games. The Cubs edged the Marlins 3-2, but the Marlins fought back with a 12-7 win later in the week.

Tim Sweeney and K.C. Silva each tossed two scoreless innings to lead the Cubs to the 3-2 victory.

Silva doubled twice in the win, including a two-bagger that led to the game-winning run in sixth. Silva doubled before Wes Howell reached on an error. Both scored for the Cubs on a two-run double by Michael Farb.

Joey Donofrio fired three shutout innings for the Marlins and led his club with a pair of singles.

Nathan DeSilva was 4-for-4 with a double and scored three runs to lead the Marlins to the 12-7 win over the Cubs. Joe Defever had three hits, Mathew Petrillo tripled and Donofrio doubled.

Tyler Plane was the winning pitcher, striking out seven and allowing just four hits over four innings.

Howell and Jake Scullion had three hits apiece for the Cubs. Paul Politi singled and doubled and Silva had two hits.

Los Gatos Little League major divisions standings (as of May 12): A's 13-1, Braves 9-5, Indians 8-5, Giants 8-6, Cardinals 7-7, Yankees 7-7, Marlins 6-8, Tigers 4-9, Cubs 4-10, Red Sox 3-11

LGLL sponsors needed

The Los Gatos Little League is looking for businesses and individuals interested in sponsoring teams for the 2001 season.

The league season is already under way with more than 800 boys and girls from the community participating in the program. Sponsorships are $150 for T-ball, $250 for the minor division and $500 for the major division.

For more information, call Mark Carlquist at 408.354.1955.

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