Saratoga News
Sports
District 12 major division TOC is loaded with Sox, but Cubs are out
By Kevin Sparrer
It was a tournament filled with Red Sox. This year's District 12 Little League Major Division Tournament of Champions included 12 teams from 10 different leagues, and five of the teams were the Red Sox. In fact, sometimes the only way to tell the clubs apart was by the batting helmets they were wearing.
Branham Hills, Los Gatos American, Willow Glen, Quito and Cambrian all wore the Red Sox uniforms. Of those teams, only Branham, Cambrian and Willow Glen advanced to the second round with wins last Saturday at Saratoga's Congress Springs Park.
Willow Glen's Red Sox won their first game of the tourney 6-0 over Quito's Sox. Joe Gotelli sparked Willow Glen to the victory. He threw a complete game shutout, allowing only five hits and striking out five, and he was 2 for 2 with a two-run home run in the first inning on the first pitch he saw and a booming triple later in the game.
The Almaden South Cardinals won a nailbiter over the Union Mets 9-8 after leading 7-1 entering in the fifth inning. The Cards put up two three-run innings in the top of the third and fourth, but the Mets fought back with a five-run bottom of the fifth to almost take one from the Cards.
The San Jose American Giants made history defeating the Saratoga Cubs 8-0 and getting their first TOC win in 15 years. The Giants put together runs in four of the six innings with the most coming in the top of the sixth when they scored three.
Eric Sullivan was the only Giant to have a multi-hit game, going 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles and a run scored. Connor Lambert and Jacob Russell each singled, and Liam Lambert singled and scored a run. Mitch Rauzza singled and scored twice and Cameron Russo ripped a double and scored twice. Alex Gutierrez added a hit, and Luke Anastasi and Lawrence Lorenzano both scored a run.
The Cubs struggled against Russo, who was on the mound for the Giants. Russo struck out 12 in the win and only allowed five hits. Greg Kenter was the only Giant with multiple hits, going 2 for 3, while George Ellenikiotis, Kia Fariba and Luke Singer each singled for Saratoga.
The Almaden North Indians were shut down by the Branham Hills Red Sox 13-3. The Indians actually led 3-0 after the top of the second, but in the last half of the second the Indians gave up six runs and fell behind, never to catch back up.
Chad Piper hammered the only big hit of the day for the Indians when he blasted one over the fence for a solo shot. Jake Neumann, Sean Meagher and Nick Medeiros each had hits in the loss and Kevin Windham and Saagar Ghai both scored runs.
The Los Gatos Giants defeated the Lincoln Glen squad 2-0 after a powerful pitchers' duel. Tyler Perkins stood atop the hill for the Giants and struck out 14 Lincoln Glen hitters in the six innings pitched, allowing only four hits. Matt Church of the Giants scored the only two runs in the game while Marc Cameron ripped the only hit for the Giants.
Cambrian Park was to play the Los Gatos Giants on Monday with the winner to face the Almaden Cardinals on June 20 at 5:30 p.m. San Jose American was to play Branham Hills Monday with the winner of that game to take on Willow Glen on June 20 at 5:30 p.m. The championship game will be played on June 21 at 5:30 p.m. All games are at Congress Springs.
