Photograph by Sebastian Widman

Los Gatos first sacker Danny Sullivan puts the tag on a sliding Casey Juull, but the Quito runner is safe. Gatos went on to post an 8-0 win over Quito in the game.

Derek Thomas wins pitchers' duel

Gatos beats Quito, but falls to Almaden to force final game

By Dick Sparrer

It was a classic pitchers' duel.

One hurler perfect through three innings, the other tossing a no-hitter. And heading into the fifth frame, there was still only one hit in the game.

But this wasn't a classic match-up of the Diamondbacks' Randy Johnson against Kevin Brown of the Dodgers.

No, this was not pitching at its best in a Major League battle ... it was pitching at its best in a major division battle.

Thomas deAngelis of the Quito Little League and Derek Thomas of the Los Gatos Little League locked up in a true pitchers' duel in the winner's bracket final in the District 12 major division tournament. And what a match-up it was.

Los Gatos ended up winning the game 8-0, but the final score belies the classic nature of the duel.

Thomas ended up throwing a masterpiece for Los Gatos. The big left-hander fired a no-hitter for the win, striking out 11 and walking five.

It was deAngelis getting stuck with the heartbreaking loss. The Quito hurler was perfect through the first three innings and took a one-hitter into the fifth. But Gatos rallied for two runs in the fifth, then broke the game open with six in the sixth.

The loss dropped Quito into the loser's bracket of the District 12 tournament. And a tough loss to Almaden just a day later knocked the Quito crew out of the tournament.

But what a tournament it was for the Quito all-stars. They opened with an 11-1 win over Willow Glen, then beat Saratoga 7-3 to advance to the finals of the winner's bracket.

That's where deAngelis and Thomas locked up their classic duel.

DeAngelis retired the first nine batters he faced in the game on five ground balls, two strikeouts, a line out and a fly ball. Matt Perrone singled to left to open the fourth to break up the perfect game and no-hitter, but deAngelis got the next three hitters on ground outs.

The Quito hurler retired the first two batters he faced in the fifth, but a single by Nate Dreesman and a couple of errors allowed two runs to score.

That would prove more than enough of a cushion for Thomas to go on to claim the victory, but the Gatos 'stars didn't quit until they had scored six more in the sixth inning, two of them on a home run by Thomas.

Justin Schafer opened the sixth with a single to center and raced home when Marty Mullins doubled down the left-field line. Thomas followed with a two-run homer over the fence in right-center, and Gatos held a commanding 5-0 lead.

But LG wasn't finished yet. Danny Sullivan walked but was forced at second by Forrest Gallien. Dreesman then ripped his second hit of the game.

A.J. Comeau singled to right to knock in Gallien, and Dreesman scored when the ball got through the right fielder. Comeau ended up scoring the game's final run on a wild pitch.


Photograph by Sebastion Widman

Slugger Derek Thomas not only cracked a two-run homer against Quito last week, but he also threw a no-hitter in the 8-0 Los Gatos victory.




Los Gatos broke onto the scoreboard in the fifth inning. Dreesman belted a two-out single and Comeau reached on an error. A run scored when Jason Stein reached on an error, and Comeau trotted home on an errant throw.

Quito had threatened early in the game. Michael Gout walked to open the game and took second on a sacrifice bunt by Joe Dickerson. Gout tagged up and moved to third when deAngelis flew out to right, but Thomas struck out the next hitter he faced to get out of the jam.

Eric Chang got Quito going in the second when he reached on a catcher's interference to took second on a passed ball. But Thomas went on to strike out the side.

Quito got its lead-off hitter on base and into scoring position for a third straight time when Kevin Smith led off the third with a walk, took second on a wild pitch and went to third on a passed ball. But once more Thomas fanned the side to end the threat.

Chang drew a one-out walk in the fourth, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Nick Bacon and took third on a passed ball. But another strikeout ended the frame.

Gatos scored two in the top of the fifth, but Quito threatened to get one back in the bottom of the inning. Matt Hawkins walked to open the inning and Smith bunted him to second. He went to third on a passed ball, but was left stranded there when Thomas struck out the next two hitters.

Quito would get one more baserunner when Casey Juull walked with one out in the sixth, but Thomas struck out the next hitter and the game ended when David Kinder lined out to first.

Los Gatos played for the district championship on Saturday but lost a lopsided 12-1 decision to Almaden to force an "if necessary" game in the tournament. The clubs were to meet against on Monday to decide the championship with the winner advancing to the sectional tournament on July 22 at the North Valley Little League field.

Gatos could manage just two hits against Almaden on Saturday, a sixth-inning homer by Thomas and a first-inning double by Schafer.

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