The locals nailed down the top seed in south pool play in District 12 action by going undefeated in four games in the tourney.

Saratoga was to square off against north pool No. 2 seed Almaden North in the semifinals on July 5. Lincoln Glen (No. 1 north pool seed) was to go up against Cambrian Park (No. 2 south pool seed) in the other semifinal game. The winners were to meet in the championship game scheduled for July 6 at Congress Springs Park.

The potent bats of Saratoga were unstoppable as the locals pounded out 52 runs, putting up double-digit totals in each of their wins. They chalked up tourney wins of 14-10 over Almaden South, 17-5 over Los Gatos National, 11-2 over Branham Hills and 10-1 over Union.

Saratoga put nine runs on the board for a 9-2 bulge over Los Gatos National after two innings and never looked back. A host of Saratoga batters got in on the action with Ricky Ramirez leading the way with two singles and a double. Tim Lycurgus also blasted a two-bagger and added a single. Kevin Smith, Greg Johnson, Will McKiernan, David McPartlan and Dillan Pak each knocked out a single. Brandon Morales had a busy game, getting on base all four times he batted and scoring twice. He walked three times and was plunked by a pitch.

Ramirez was double trouble for Los Gatos, taking care of mound duty for Saratoga and putting in five solid innings of work. Pak came in to close it out with one inning of relief. The two pitchers combined to give up only six hits in the game.

When Saratoga and Branham Hills matched up both teams posted two runs in the first inning and the score remained knotted at 2-2 until Saratoga broke it open by putting up three runs in the fourth inning and six more in the fifth.

Smith, Ramirez and Johnson each had multiple hit days with Smith and Ramirez each punching a single and a double and Johnson knocking a couple of singles. Pak and McKiernan got in on the extra base hit action with each powering a two-bagger and McKiernan drove in a pair of runs with his poke. McPartlan cracked a single and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Lycurgus, Morales and Jake Graham each added singles.

Saratoga got a solid outing on the mound from Morales (five innings) and Andrew Barna (one inning). The two hurlers combined to hold Branham Hills to three hits.

The locals closed out pool play with the convincing win over Union. The outstanding pitching continued with Ramirez getting the nod for the start. He fired five innings of two-hit shutout ball before Smith came in to mop things up in the sixth, giving up a couple of hits and a run.

The hitting attack was led by Morales and McKiernan, poking three singles each. Saratoga pounded out 11 hits for the game.

Saratoga jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first on a couple of hits by Morales and Ramirez sandwiched around a walk to Smith and an error. Ramirez and Johnson each knocked in a run with their hits.

It was close with Saratoga leading 4-1 through five innings. Then the locals put it out of reach with six runs in the top of the sixth, manufactured by five hits and two walks. Morales, Johnson, McKiernan, Pak and Lycurgus slapped singles while McPartlan and Smith worked their way on with walks.

Other members of the 11-year-old all-star team include Tyler Winningham, Chris Guengerich and Tyler Jew.

Quito goes 1-3

It was a tough tournament for the Quito team which opened with a win but then proceeded to put three in the loss column last week, closing out north pool play at 1-3.

Quito ran into a buzz saw in the Lincoln Glen team that put 10 runs up in the first two innings before Quito knew what was happening. Quito never got untracked and Lincoln Glen prevailed 12-2 in a four-inning game.

The Quito squad came back strong in the match-up with Almaden North that turned out to be a seesaw battle. After Almaden North jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, Quito picked up two runs in the second on a home run by Richard Prigatano to tie it up. Prigatano had the hot bat on the day, also banging out a double and two singles.

In the fourth inning, Quito pushed across four runs on only two hits. Prigatano and Brett Kentera stroked singles with Kentera's driving in a run. Adrian Medina lofted a sacrifice fly to pick up another run-batted-in. Thomas Marlen and Justin Leong drew walks and Steve Economy was hit by a pitch. Brett Morales and Kyle Peck got on base by errors while Collin Takaki was able to reach on a fielder's choice. All of that resulted in two more runs to give Quito a 6-3 advantage.

The two teams traded runs in the fifth and Quito headed into the final inning of play hanging onto an 8-6 lead. Quito was unable to make the lead stand up with Almaden North fighting back to score three runs in the bottom of the sixth to walk off the field with a 9-8 win.

The final game of the tournament for Quito was another closely contested affair with Los Gatos American. Peck started on the hill and gave up eight runs in three innings before Nick Streit threw one inning and allowed two more runs. Brett Morales came on to close out the final two innings and hold Los Gatos American scoreless to give his teammates a chance to come back. Quito could come up with only three runs in the fifth and none in the sixth resulting in the 10-8 loss.

The offensive attack was led by Leong, who pounded out two doubles. Prigatano, Takaki and Kentera also had multiple hits with each rapping two singles. Medina added a single to round out the attack.

Other members of the Quito all-star squad include Tyler Cowen and Bryan Bridgeman.

Majors get going

Saratoga's 12-year-old all-stars dropped one to Lincoln Glen 6-1 on July 3 in the District 12 major division tournament at the Lincoln Glen Little League field.

Mike McGinnis hammered two singles with Parker Smith belting a single and scoring the only run for Saratoga. Matt Morales, Grant Thomas and Dan Polini all singled in the loss.

Rounding out the Saratoga major division all-star team are Kyle Miller, Andy Berman, Taylor Trah, Chris Rea, Henry Springwell, Tony Lewis and Vinniy Carstens.

Saratoga was scheduled to challenge Almaden South on Monday and will take on Branham Hills on July 7, 5:30 p.m. The locals will attempt to bring down Cambrian Park on July 10, 3 p.m.

Quito drops a pair

The Quito major division all-stars have not been lucky so far, dropping their first two games. Quito lost 4-1 to Willow Glen on July 2. Michael Economy doubled and Drew Messer blasted a single and scored the only run for Quito. Nathan Gomez and David Webster each singled.

Quito also dropped one 4-3 to Los Gatos American on July 3. Stefan Eckhardt, Allen Van Dyke, Michael Combs and Steven Young each singled in the loss.

Rounding out the Quito team are Justin Hamilton, Benjamin Collier, Anthony Denevi and Myles Johansen.

The Quito team will step up against American on July 8, 5:30 p.m., and will battle Union on July 10, 10 a.m.

Kevin Sparrer contributed to this story.