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Photograph by Sebastian Widmann
The A's celebrate after their 3-1 win over the Padres in the winner's bracket of the major division tournament. The A's and Padres play for the league title this week.
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A's, Padres play for Little League crown
Blair leads A's into finals
By Dick Sparrer
Who says lightning never strikes twice in the same place?
The A's of the Los Gatos Little League major division are trying to prove differently this week.
The A's were the regular season champs in the division. And they hope to back that up with a championship in the league tournament this week. But the Padres hope to have something to say about that.
The A's entered play this week unbeaten in the tournament, and needed a win Monday to clinch the tourney title.
The Padres, on the other hand, hoped to stretch the tournament out to the "if necessary" game on Wednesday night. The Padres had lost 3-1 to the A's in the winner's bracket final last Tuesday, but came back to outslug the Cardinals 13-11 on Saturday to move into the finals.
The Pads, though, have to defeat the A's twice to wrest away the crown and win the right to become the league's representative to the District 12 Tournament of Champions.
The clubs were to meet Monday. An A's win would end the series and give the regular season champs the tourney crown. A Padres win would force a final game on June 14, 5:30 p.m., at Baggerly Field at Blossom Hill Park, with the winner taking the title.
The tournament champion will be back in action on June 17, 11:30 a.m., against Willow Glen in the first round of the District 12 Tournament of Champions. The single-elimination tourney is being played at Rolling Hills Middle School in Campbell, the home of the Quito Little League. Saturday's winner will face Saratoga on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
A's 3, Padres 1
Kyle Blair ripped a two-run single and came on in the sixth inning to strike out the side to get the save in the A's crucial 3-1 win over the Padres last Tuesday night.
Danny Sullivan tossed five innings of two-hit baseball to get the win. Sullivan struck out five and walked four. Blair came on in the sixth with his club up 3-1 and fanned three straight.
The A's took a 1-0 lead into the third. Blake Dietrich singled, Steven Stege reached on an error and John Gallien was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Blair followed with a single to knock in two runs.
The Padres got a run back in the third when Charlie Denues walked, took second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Brett Krouskup.
Denues tossed three scoreless innings in the loss, striking out five and allowing just a hit and a walk over the final three frames.
A's 5, Cardinals 4
The A's had opened the week with a tight 5-4 come-from-behind win over the Cardinals on Sunday. They were down 4-3 heading into the sixth, but Sullivan tied the game with a solo homer with one out in the inning. An out later Matt Ellis worked the count for a walk, and he scored all the way from first when Nick Kalpin reached on an error.
Sullivan tossed three shutout innings to open the game, fanning seven and allowing no hits. Blair was the winning pitcher with three innings of relief.
But Forrest Gallien ripped a solo homer in the fourth, and the Cards added three runs in the fifth to take the lead.
Woody Wilkerson opened the fifth with a homer. Frank Fritsch and Rusty Wall each reached on errors, allowing another run to score, and Niki Chow followed with a run-scoring double to put his club up 4-3.
Padres 13, Cardinals 11
For F. Gallien, his homer against the A's was the first of four for the week. He homered in a 3-2 win over the Cubs, and he ripped two homers Saturday in a 13-11 loss to the Padres.
Gallien was four-for-four with a couple of homers, but the Cards fell out of the tourney with the loss to the Pads last weekend.
Jason Stein was the hitting star for the Padres in the Saturday win with two doubles and a triple to drive in four runs. David Pavicich had three hits, Eric McDonald singled and doubled, Chip Dreesman doubled and Krouskup singled and scored three runs.
David Norvelle tossed three strong innings to get the mound win for the Padres.
Wall and Wilkerson each singled and doubled to support Gallien's effort in the loss.
Cards 3, Cubs 2
F. Gallien's solo homer in the third helped the Cards to a 3-0 lead, and they held on for a 3-2 win over the Cubs on Friday. Wall tossed a complete game for the win, striking out 12 and giving up just five hits.
The Cards scored two in the second when Wilkerson walked and Nick Schradle reached on an error. Two more errors allowed both runners to score.
Gallien homered in the third to make it 3-0, but the Cubs fought back. Marty Mullins doubled in the bottom of the third and Robby Perry singled him home.
In the sixth, Perry reached on an error and Nick Politi and K.C. Silva each walked to load the bags. A run scored on a wild pitch, but then Wall struck out the side to nail down the win.
Paul Politi tossed the first three innings for the Cubs and N. Politi finished up with three no-hit, no-run frames.
Cards 6, Yankees 5
The Cards had eliminated the Yankees earlier in the week with a 6-5 win. Wilkerson tossed three shutout innings to get the win, striking out five and allowing just one hit, and Gallien fanned six over the final three frames. Wilkerson had the big hit in the game, a two-run single in the three-run second. Wall doubled twice for the Cards and Wilkerson had two hits.
Derek Thomas was three-for-three with a two-run double that sparked a five-run rally in the fifth for the Yankees. Robbie LaBouff also doubled for the Yanks.
Yankees 5, Pirates 2
The Yankees had knocked the Pirates out of the tourney two days earlier. Thomas tossed a three-hitter, striking out 14 and walking none, to lead the Yanks to the 5-2 win. Thomas blasted a two-run homer in the first and also doubled. Bricklin Foley doubled in the win.
The Pirates scored their only runs in the sixth. Justin Shaffer beat out an infield hit and scored when Daniel Silva ripped a triple to right-center. Silva scored on a wild pitch.
The only other hit Thomas allowed in the game was an infield single by Danny Frey in the first inning.
Cubs 9, Indians 7
The Cubs beat the Indians 9-7 on Wednesday in another elimination game. Mullins broke a 7-7 tie with a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth. P. Politi reached on an error to open the sixth, and Mullins ripped a 0-2 pitch over the fence in center field.
Mullins was also the winning pitcher, striking out seven and allowing just two hits over the last four scoreless innings.
Chris Keesling singled and doubled, Perry had two hits and Tim Sweeney belted a two-run double in a six-run fourth. Mullins also had two hits.
Chad Bannan belted a two-run double in a five-run second for the Indians.
Indians 13, Marlins 1
The Indians had opened the week with a 13-1 win over the Marlins. Noah Henry tossed three scoreless innings, striking out six to get the win. He also had two hits to drive in three runs.
Matt Perrone and Zach Sylvester each doubled and singled twice and David Martini doubled. Brian McMurray tossed the final three innings in the win.
Colby Moore had two hits for the Marlins.
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