Saratoga News

The Saratoga Little League 8-year-old all-stars were undefeated in the Quito Invitational but finished third.

Saratoga 'stars undefeated

But 8-year-olds settle for third at Quito Tourney

By Dick Sparrer

Only one team finished the Quito Invitational Baseball Tournament undefeated.

It wasn't tournament champion Los Gatos, and it wasn't tourney runner-up Almaden.

It was the Saratoga Little League 8-year-old all-stars--but, unfortunately for the youngsters from the local league, it wasn't enough for a tournament championship.

Saratoga won four straight games in the tourney played on the fields at Westmont High School, but it was good for just a third-place finish in the annual invitational.

The Saratoga 'stars, selected from the farm and minor "AA" divisions of the Saratoga Little League, rolled to three straight wins in division play, but ended up in a tie for the division title with Almaden.

Only one team could advance to the tournament championship game, and Almaden got the nod on a tourney tiebreaker rule.

The Saratoga all-stars moved on to the third-place game and posted their fourth straight victory of the tournament to clinch third place overall.

Team members included Scott Darchuk, Jeffrey DeBarr, Matt Durkett, Takeshi Harada, Greg Justice, Alex Lagemann, Bo Nielson, Gregory Schuck, Steven Shepherd, Angela Caloiaro, John McCready and Bennett Rottenberg. The team was managed by John Nielson, and his coach was Bob DeBarr.

There were 12 teams in the second annual Quito Invitational, and they were divided into two divisions: Purple Division-- Moreland West, Almaden, Saratoga, Willow Glen, American and Los Gatos Orange; Red Division-- Campbell, Branham Hills, Los Gatos Black, Quito, Moreland East and Union.

Los Gatos Black and Campbell tied for first place in the Red Division with matching 2-1 records, and Saratoga and Almaden were each 3-0 in the Purple Division. Both divisions were decided by a tiebreaker.

Los Gatos went on to beat Almaden 11-1 in the tournament championship game, and Saratoga knocked off Campbell in the third-place game.

[ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ]