Saratoga News
Sports
Photograph by Vicki Thompson
The Saratoga players pour out onto the field after winning the District 12 Little League 9-year-old tournament championship. Saratoga clinched the title with a 10-3 victory over Almaden South.
Saratoga 9's win District 44 crown
By Kevin Sparrer
Tyler Plesse drove the ball and Saratoga Little League 9-year-old all-star team to a championship.
Saratoga crushed Almaden South 10-3 on July 5, thanks to the bat of Plesse, and also his performance on the mound. Plesse tossed the first five innings, striking out eight, before Andrew Carter came on in the sixth to finish out the game, striking out the three batters he faced.
Plesse also did his job in the three hole for the offense, smacking three hits and driving in three runs.
Plesse wasn't the only hot bat in the lineup; in fact, the top four hitters in the lineup all did their jobs perfectly. The four batters combined for 10 hits and drove in seven of the 10 runs.
Andrew Harter was the leadoff man and belted three hits; Carter was in the two spot and smacked a pair of hits, including a triple that scored the first run of the game; Plesse belted three hits and drove in three; and Andrew Ferguson hammered two hits, including a double and three RBIs. Joey Medeiros also had a day at the plate, knocking out three hits and an RBI.
Despite the final score the game, it was closer than it would appear.
Saratoga led off in the top of the first with a three-run inning after Harter dropped a bunt single and Carter blasted a triple to right-center to drive him in. Plesse came up and belted a single to score Carter and Ferguson doubled to drive in Plesse.
But Almaden battled right back with three runs of its own. Then the bats went quiet for three innings, but the silence wouldn't last. In the top of the sixth, Saratoga rallied for six more runs after Drew Kriens reached on an error. Jonathan Keyes and Adrian Fong both ripped singles and Carter roped a base hit with the bases loaded to drive in one. Then Plesse came up and drove in two more with a base knock and Ferguson blasted a hit that scored another. Finally, Medeiros knocked a hit that score two more before Almaden could get out of the inning.
In the fifth, Saratoga added another run for insurance and Carter shut down the strong Almaden team in order.
The semifinal game, Saratoga downed Quito 10-2. Saratoga took a quick lead, scoring two runs in the top of the first when Harter singled to left and Carter drove him in with a double. Plesse then reached on an error and drove in Carter.
Medeiros had the duties on the mound and threw a complete game with seven strikeouts and only allowed one run in the fifth and one in the sixth, but it was too late for Quito to mount a comeback.
Saratoga's biggest inning came in the sixth when the local all-stars put together five runs on five hits and two walks. The big hit came from Kriens, who blasted a single to drive in two.
Harter finished with two base hits, Carter knocked two hits, including a double, Plesse roped a pair of singles and drove in three, Medeiros belted two hits and Kriens knocked two as well.
Saratoga finished the tournament with only one loss in pool play and then scored 20 runs in the championship tournament while allowing only five.
The rest of the Saratoga team included Derek Sun, Derek Tanaka, Andrew Chen and Chris Palermo.
