Saratoga News
Cover Story
Photograph by Stephania Bednar
A happy group of Saratoga Little League 11-year-old all-stars celebrate after winning the District 12 championship. Saratoga topped Almaden 4-3 on July 10 to claim the district crown.
Jump for Joy
Saratoga Little Leaguers have three reasons to be happy this summer--three district titles
By Kevin Sparrer
It should be a rule that a tournament championship game has to be close and go right down to the last out.
Well, if it were a rule, then the Saratoga Little League 11-year-old all-star team abided by it.
Saratoga battled Almaden North for the District 12 all-star title and led the entire game before Almaden made a valiant effort in the bottom of the last inning. With the tying run on third and two outs, K.J. Carta Samuels struck out the last batter of the game to help Saratoga win the championship 4-3 on July 10.
"This is a great group of kids," said Saratoga manager Bob Johnson. "They don't get over excited; they stay really even which allows them to stay in the game."
Saratoga didn't have one big inning in the win, but instead spread its runs out, scoring one in each of the first four innings of the game.
Davis Berryhill led off the game with a double, went to third on a wild pitch, and after the next two batters were retired, scored when Johnson doubled.
Perhaps the most important run for Saratoga came in the top of the fourth, which turned out to be the winning run. Eric Ferguson led off the inning with a walk, and after two quick outs Brayden Curry smacked a double, driving in Ferguson for the fourth and final run of the game for 'Toga.
The final inning, as it turns out, was even closer than it sounds. Saratoga was leading 4-2 going into the bottom of the sixth. Ryan Johnson had thrown a solid five innings, allowing only two runs in the bottom of the fourth. But in the bottom of the sixth with one out Johnson gave up a solo homer to left by Steven Vega. With Almaden threatening to tie the game, Johnson got another out before Dakota Calvert of Almaden smacked a single to left.
Unfortunately for Johnson, he ran out of pitches. So with one out and a runner on, Samuels came in to close it out. Calvert went to second on a wild pitch before Derek Hogle hit a ground ball to first, but the first baseman couldn't make it back to first to get the out. Then with two outs and runners at the corners, Samuels struck out the final batter to take home the championship.
"Almaden always plays us tough," said Saratoga's manager. "We went into the game knowing it was going to be decided by one run and that one mistake could cost the game."
Johnson was not only an asset on the mound for Saratoga, but at the plate as well. He smacked a double, a single and drove in two runs. Also a factor at the plate was Berryhill, who knocked both a double and a single and scored a run.
Stephen Ruff doubled and scored, Curry doubled and drove in a run, Thomas Alexander singled and scored and Chris Zapata, Samuels and Jared Spang each singled. Ferguson also scored in the win.
The Saratoga 11-year-old all-stars will now move on to Section 5 tournament, opening on July 19, 5:30 p.m., against the District 9 champion at the Campbell Little League field on Hamilton Avenue.
Prior to facing Almaden, Saratoga downed Los Gatos National 10-8 on July 9. Zapata led the effort at the plate, blasting a homer, a single and scoring two runs in the win. Also adding to the attack was Johnson who singled, doubled and scored. Ruff had two hits and scored, Curry, Samuels, Christian Galvin and Travis Stokes each had a hit and scored and both Ferguson and Anthony Collado scored.
On July 7, Saratoga defeated Quito 13-2 in the final game of pool play. Curry and Johnson each ripped two hits, including doubles, and scored two runs apiece. Thomas Alexander and Samuels each had a pair of hits and scored twice, Berryhill blasted a homer and scored twice, Ruff, Zapata and Anthony Collado each singled and scored and Galvin singled.
For Quito, Brian Fazzino singled, doubled and scored, Trevor Fliat doubled, Rich Gutierrez singled and scored and Ryan Meere scored.
Almaden North also played in the semifinal round on July 9 against Cambrian Park. Almaden came away with the victory 4-2 with only three hits.
In the final round of pool play, Almaden defeated San Jose American 16-0. Los Gatos National defeated Union 10-7, Los Gatos American defeated Lincoln Glen 11-4, Almaden South won 8-7 over Willow Glen and Cambrian Park topped Branham Hills 11-2.
Comeback wins gives Saratoga 10-year-olds district title
Coming from behind can test any athlete's composure, but the Saratoga Little League 10-year-old all-star team proved it could be cool under pressure.
Saratoga fell behind early to Almaden North in the District 12 championship game on July 11 at the Los Gatos Little League field, but came back to take the title with a 9-6 win.
Almaden grabbed an early 3-0 lead in the first, but Saratoga battled back to score four and steal the lead in the bottom of the second. 'Toga then held Almaden and added two more runs in the bottom of the third. Almaden made another attempt in the top of the fourth, scoring two runs, but Saratoga extended its lead with another run in the bottom of the inning.
In the top of the fifth, Almaden brought it within one, scoring a pair of runs, but again Saratoga answered back with two in the bottom of the fifth and held on to claim the championship.
The bottom of the second was the biggest inning for Saratoga. Joey Medeiros led off the inning with a line drive double to left. Derek Sun drew a walk to put two on for Alex Hansen, who knocked a ground ball through the right side allowing Medeiros to score. On the same play, Almaden attempted to catch Hansen advancing to second on the throw to the plate, but the ball was too late. While Almaden made the attempt at second, Sun was able to score and Hansen wound up on third on the throw home.
Almaden pitcher Nolan Meadows struck out the next two batters before allowing a double down the left field line by Andrew Carter. The hit scored Hansen and left a runner in scoring position for Tyler Plesse, who hit a ball to left that the left fielder couldn't handle. The error scored Carter and left Plesse on second. But Meadows was able to strike out another batter to end the inning.
The big hitter of the day for Saratoga was Medeiros, who ripped three hits, including a pair of doubles. He also drove in two runs and scored twice. Andrew Harter also had a good day at the plate, ripping both a double and a triple. Harter also drove in one and scored a run. Carter singled, doubled and scored twice in the win, Drew Kriews knocked a triple and scored, Hansen singled, drove in a run and scored, Jonathan Keys singled and had an RBI, Andrew Ferguson singled and both Sun and Andrew Chen scored runs.
Plesse was also the man on the mound for Saratoga for the majority of the game. He threw the first five innings of the contest, striking out two, and Carter came in to close the game in the top of the sixth, and after a walk, got two batters to pop out before striking out the last batter looking for the save and the championship.
The championship was Saratoga's third in only two weeks. It began by winning the 9-year-old all-star tournament that concluded on July 3. Then the Saratoga 11-year-old all-stars won the same tournament on July 10 before the 10-year-old all-stars conquered the competition on July 11.
The semi-final round of the 10-year-old tournament pitted 'Toga against Lincoln Glen, whom they defeated 20-6 on July 9. Again it was Medeiros who led the offense for Saratoga, scoring three runs on three hits. Carter knocked a single and a double while scoring four runs, Plesse also had a double and a single and scored twice and Keys knocked a pair of singles and scored one. Harter doubled and scored twice, Ferguson singled and scored three runs, Sun singled and scored twice and Kriews, Hansen and Chris Palermo each singled and scored. Andrew Chen also scored a run in the win.
Saratoga completed the tournament undefeated, including the four games in pool play. In the last game of pool play, Saratoga downed Los Gatos American 9-5. Harter had three hits, including a double, while Kriews had two doubles and both Carter and Plesse had two hits.
Earlier that week Saratoga defeated Cambrian Park 10-0 on July 5 with Ferguson knocking a homer and Kriews smacking three hits. On June 30 'Toga won 14-0 over Quito with Plesse knocking three hits, including a double, while Carter added three hits and Medeires had two. In the first game of pool play, Saratoga beat Los Gatos National 12-7 on June 29 with Medeiros knocking three hits.
Almaden South was looking promising entering the championship game of the tournament, having defeated every team it had faced up until that game by at least 10 runs and scoring at least 14 runs in each game.
In the semi-final round of the tournament on July 9, Almaden topped Branham Hills 14-4.
In the final round of pool play, Almaden defeated Los Gatos National 17-3 on July 7. Before the win over Los Gatos, Almaden downed Quito 14-2 on July 6.
On July 2, Almaden won over Cambrian Park 15-1. In its first game of the tournament, Almaden South 10-runned Los Gatos American 16-6.
In the final day of pool play on July 7, Cambrian Park defeated Quito 13-2, Lincoln Glen won over Willow Glen 9-6, Branham Hills took one from San Jose American 9-8 and Almaden North won against Union 13-11.
Branham Hills defeated Almaden North 10-7 on July 6 and Lincoln Glen won over San Jose American 7-6 on July 5. On July 3, Los Gatos American defeated its counterpart Los Gatos National 9-6 and Willow Glen fell to Union 5-4. Almaden North defeated San Jose American 7-4 on July 2.
All 12 teams played on June 30 with the following results: Branham Hills defeated Lincoln Glen 6-1, Union downed San Jose American 9-5, Willow Glen won over Almaden North 8-5 and Cambrian Park won over Los Gatos National 10-7.
The first few games of the tournament saw Lincoln Glen take one over Union 16-6, Branham Hills beat Willow Glen 5-2 and Quito top Los Gatos American 20-7.
The Quito team consisted of Scott Deppmeier, Zack Gustlin, Bobby Maldonado, Mitch Saucier, Seth Spina, Mason Berry, Goble Josh, Michael Kenzler, Adam Wong and Parker Whims.
