Saratoga News
Sports
Saratoga eliminated in 6-5 heartbreaker at divisionals
By Kevin Sparrer
It's unfortunate, but eventually all good things must come to an end--and the end came last Saturday for the Saratoga Little League 11-year-old all-star team.
What a run it was, though, for the kids from Saratoga.
The local 'stars won the District 12 and Section 5 championships before losing in the Division 2 all-star tournament last weekend at the Branham Hills Little League field. Saratoga lost 13-8 to Hillsborough on Friday, then dropped a tough 6-5 decision to Woodcreek on Saturday morning.
Despite ending on a loss, Saratoga was not without its heroes. Davis Berryhill knocked not only one, but two home runs for 'Toga in the tournament. And in Saratoga's final game, it was a battle to the end.
"This is only the second time a Saratoga 11-year-old team has come this far," said manager Bob Johnson. "This team played great against high caliber competition."
Saratoga took an early lead against Woodcreek, scoring two runs in the top of the first. Kyle James Carta-Samuels drew a one out walk and Stephen Ruff hit a shallow fly ball to right that the outfielder dropped. But Carta-Samuels was caught in no-man's land and was forced out at second. With two outs, Ruff took second on a wild pitch before. Ryan Johnson knocked a single, and when the throw back in skipped past one of the infielders, Ruff was able to score and Johnson went to second. Johnson took third on a passed ball and trotted home when Chris Zapata blasted a ball off the wall in right field. The next batter popped up to the shortstop, but Saratoga had a two run lead.
Woodcreek came back and scored one in the bottom of the first, and though Saratoga was able to get a pair of hits in the top of the second, it wasn't able to score.
Then Woodcreek stole the lead in the bottom of the second, scoring two more runs.
It went back to Saratoga in the top of the third when the locals scored another two runs. Carta-Samuels started the rally with another walk and went around to third on a double over the center fielder's head by Ruff. Carta-Samuels came in to score on a wild pitch, leaving Ruff at third for Johnson, who ripped a single up the middle to score the second run of the inning. Zapata drew a walk to put two runners on with no outs, but Woodcreek was able to get three outs without allowing another hit or any more runs to score.
'Toga extended its lead to 5-3 in the top of the fourth when Berryhill blasted a ball over the wall in right center for the only run of the inning, but Woodcreek tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Unfortunately, that's where the offense stopped for Saratoga. A single by Thomas Alexander in the top of the fifth was the only other hit of the day for the locals.
Woodcreek led off the bottom of the fifth with a home run to take the lead and eventually the win.
"This is a great tournament," said Johnson. "The competition is really tough and this game could have gone either way."
Johnson led the offense with two hits, an RBI and a run scored, while Berryhill had the big fly. Ruff knocked a double and scored twice, Zapata singled and drove in a run and Alexander, Bobby Vithanage and Eric Ferguson each had hits. Carta-Samuels also scored a run in the loss.
The day before, Saratoga suffered its first loss in the tournament when it fell 13-8 to Hillsborough. 'Toga mounted a bit of a comeback in the sixth inning with four runs, but it was too little too late. Zapata led off the inning with a double before Carta-Samuels knocked one over the wall for a two-run shot.
Brayden Curry knocked a line drive that the shortstop couldn't handle to reach first. Vithanage then smacked a line drive back up the middle that went off the pitcher's glove and into left field for a hit. With two on and no one out, both runners advanced on a wild pitch before Jared Spang grounded out to second, but Curry was able to score on the play. With a runner at third, the next batter grounded out to first for the second out before Alexander ripped a line drive up the middle to score Vithanage.
Ruff led the attack at the plate with a pair of doubles, a run scored and an RBI, while Alexander knocked two hits, drove one in and scored. Johnson also had two hits and scored. Berryhill knocked another homer, drove in one and scored, and Carta-Samuels blasted one over the wall to drive in two and score. Zapata knocked a double and scored, Vithanage singled and scored, Anthony Collado singled and both Spang and Christian Galvin drove in runs.
Filling out the Saratoga roster is Travis Stokes.
Prior to competing in the Division 2 tournament, Saratoga won the Section 5 title with a 10-8 win over Capitola. "We played flawless defense," said the manager. "We just played clean baseball."
Johnson was the force on the mound in the win over Capitola, throwing his allotted 80 pitches before he was relieved.
