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Photograph by Mark Kocina
The Los Gatos Little League major division all-stars made it to the Western Regionals before seeing their season come to an end. Gatos won 13 of 17 games in all-star play, eight of the wins coming in one-run ballgames. Clutch hitting helped Gatos advance, including this three-run homer by David Martini in the finals of the District 12 tournament.
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Road to Pa. ends in San Bernardino
But what a trip it was for Los Gatos
By Dick Sparrer
The road to Williamsport, Pa., is a long one.
And the Los Gatos Little League major division all-star team found out just how long this season.
The Gatos all-stars traveled that rough road for a number of weeks before finally hitting a dead end at the Western Regionals in San Bernardino last week.
But it was a great ride while it lasted.
It all started back on the last day of June when the Gatos 'stars knocked off the Quito Little League all-stars 6-1 in the first round of the District 12 tournament. And it ended last Friday when Los Gatos lost a 12-3 decision to Green Valley, Nev., in the Western Regionals at Al Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino.
Gatos won the District 12, Section 5 and Northern California Divisional championships before posting a 2-2 record at the Western Regionals. The local all-stars tied for second place in their division, but missed advancing to the semifinals by a single run.
The top four teams in each of the two divisions at the regionals made it to the semi-final round and Los Gatos ended up in a four-way tie for second place. But the tiebreaker was head-to-head competition, and Gatos had lost 3-2 to Taylorsville, Utah.
Gatos opened with a 7-5 win over Ewa Beach, Hawaii, before losing to Taylorsville. The locals came back with a tight 2-1 win over Eastdale Little League of Albuquerque, N.M., but then lost 12-3 to Green Valley.
Members of the Los Gatos major division all-star team included Colby Moore, Noah Henry, Kyle Blair, Woody Wilkerson, Eric McDonald, Mitchell Benedetti, Bricklin Foley, Daniel Norvelle, Ben Hintz, Jeremy Cleveland, Matt Ellis, Will Kapp, David Martini and Stephen Krach. Dan Kropp was the manager and Ric Foley Mel Blair, Bo Hintz and Bob Moore were the coaches.
NorCal Divisional
Los Gatos won a series of close games to take the Northern California Divisional title, and that earned the Gatos boys a berth in the Western Regionals. The tournament was played at the Woodmen of the World Little League Park in Selma just outside of Fresno.
Gatos opened the divisional with a 4-3 win in seven innings over Tulare National, then edged Alameda 4-3.
The locals trimmed Alpine/West Menlo 2-1 in the finals of the winner's bracket to move into the championship round.
Los Gatos lost 5-1 to Alpine, but the locals had to lose twice to forfeit the tourney title. They didn't. The Gatos boys came back with a thrilling 4-3 come-from-behind win to clinch the championship. Los Gatos scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to fight back from a 3-1 deficit to win the game, the divisional championship and the spot in the Western Regionals.
Section 5
A championship in the Section 5 tournament at the American Little League field in San Jose pushed Los Gatos into the divisionals, and the locals played a series of close games in this tourney, too.
Los Gatos opened with a 5-4 win over Aptos, then beat King City 3-1. A 2-1 loss to King City forced an "if needed" game, and Los Gatos won a 1-0 thriller to take the title and advance to the next round.
District 12
Gatos rolled through the District 12 tourney with four straight wins. After opening with the 6-1 win over host Quito, the locals edged Willow Glen 6-5, beat Almaden 8-5 and blanked Lincoln 5-0 in the championship game.
Overall, Los Gatos won 13 of 17 games in all-star play. Incredibly, 10 of the 17 games were decided by just one run, and Los Gatos won eight of them.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
