It felt natural on a Fourth of July weekend as the conclusion of pool play in the District 12 Little League 11-year-old all-star tournament took place at Congress Springs Park, the home of the Saratoga Little League.

Fortunately, it's not always about just winning in such an event, but the opportunity to be chosen as an all-star and to experience the excitement of playing in the tournament.

The team from the American Little League knows what that's all about as they completed north pool play last week dropping two games and finishing winless in the tourney in four tries.

The team of Alex Fischler, Austin McDowell, Cameron Russo, Mario Nunez, Michael Golden, Cameron Densmore, Lorenzo Ohcayda, Jorge Sanchez, David Brumley, Dan Keaton and Michael Civic put up a good fight in each game but ran into some good teams.

American's final game in the tourney was against the eventual No. 1 seed in the north pool, Lincoln Glen. The hot-hitting Lincoln Glen club was too much to handle and pounded out an 11-2 win.

American was facing a 10-0 deficit and the threat of a shortened four-inning game when Russo slapped a single and Nunez followed with a home run to keep the game going. However, American managed to get only two other hits in the game, singles by Golden and Densmore.

Golden was a key factor on the mound as well. After Nunez started and had trouble finding his rhythm, Golden came in with only one out in the first and proceeded to fire the next five and two-thirds innings to complete the game.

Earlier in the week, American squared off against Los Gatos American, which battled for the No. 2 seed in the north pool but came up just short. American could not solve the magic of the Los Gatos pitcher and dropped a 9-1 decision. The American batters were held to only two hits with Civic and Nunez each rapping singles.

Major division

Bryan Carrillo led the San Jose American major division all-star team to its first win 5-4 over Union in the District 12 opener at the Lincoln Glen Little League field. Carrillo came through with a home run and a single and two runs scored to lead his team to the victory.

Isaac Gonzales, Mike Gattuccio and Aaron Bueno each ripped singles, with Mark Jensen doubling and scoring a run in the win. Patrick Santos also smashed a single and scored a run for American.

The other members of the team include Cullen McGagin, Kenneth Banuelos, Mike Anastas, Stephen Figurera, Daniel Figurera and Luiz Gutierrez.

American was to face Almaden North in its second major division all-star game on July 6 and will take on Quito on July 8, 5:30 p.m. American is back in action on July 10, 12:30 p.m., against Willow Glen in the final game of pool play.

The tournament semifinals will be held July 12, 5:30 p.m., with the top two teams from each pool in the field. The winners play for the championship on July 14, 5:30 p.m.

All games are played at the Lincoln Glen Little League field.

Kevin Sparrer contributed to this story.