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Sunnyvale Serra's Eric Taubuan is out at first on this play in a major division Tournament of Champions game. Serra lost 3-0 to Campbell.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Twins outlast Reds in minor TOC
Metro drops tough 4-1 nod to Briarwood
By Dick Sparrer
Solid pitching, steady defense and timely hitting ... a manager can't ask for much more from his baseball team.
And that's just what the manager of the Sunnyvale Serra Little League Twins got from his club last week when they opened play in the District 44 minor division Tournament of Champions.
The Twins provided all three--pitching, defense and offense--in a rousing 21-8 victory over the Reds of the Cupertino National Little League.
Andrew Schwartz provided the solid pitching performance. Schwartz tossed three innings of 1-hit baseball, striking out five along the way, to help the Twins jump out to a big lead.
The defensive play of the game was made by Serra second baseman Ryan Harryman who, after making a diving stop, threw to the shortstop for a force at second while laying on his back.
And the offense? Well, the Twins had plenty.
Harryman doubled and singled twice to lead the bat attack for the winners. Santos Solorio had two hits and scored four runs for the Twins.
Michael Laccabue and Doug Hofstetter ripped two hits apiece in the win and Aaron Gellman cracked a double.
The Twins jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead with four runs in the first, then made it 9-0 with five more runs in the third.
There was no quit in the Reds, though. The National champs rallied for four in the home half of the third to cut the lead to 9-4, and when the Twins scored later in the game, the Reds fought back to cut their lead to 12-6.
But Serra put the game out of reach with a nine-run rally in the sixth, and two runs by the Reds in the bottom of the frame proved too little, too late.
In other minor division games reported, the Mountain View Giants edged the Santa Clara Homestead A's 12-10 in seven innings; Santa Clara Briarwood knocked off RSJ Machining of Campbell 19-15; Los Altos beat Sunnyvale National and handled Sunnyvale Metro 6-3 despite a strong pitching performance by Frank Memolo; the Santa Clara Westside Pirates outlasted the Cupertino American Angels 13-1;
Major Division
In major division action, Sunnyvale Metro dropped a tough 4-1 decision to Santa Clara Briarwood to face elimination in the tournament.
Kevin Knopf knocked in a run in the third inning, but that would turn out to be the only run Metro could manage against Santa Clara.
Metro matched nine hits with Briarwood-El Camino, but the Santa Clara scored single runs in the second, third, fourth and fifth on the road to the victory.
Knopf was 3-for-3 with a double for Metro and Nick Fracchia was also 3-for-3 in the loss. Ryan Marcellini had two hits and was hit by a pitch.
The Rockies of the Sunnyvale Southern Little League dropped a 7-1 nod to the Los Altos Rockies in their tournament opener June 19 at the Santa Clara Homestead field.
Los Altos took the early lead with three runs in the first and another run in the second. The Rockies made it 6-0 with two in the fourth and 7-0 with a run in the sixth. Southern scored its only run in the bottom of the sixth.
Scott Marshall and David Kennado each doubled to lead the four-hit attack for Southern's Rockies.
In other major games reported, Campbell's Murdick Trucking beat the Giants of Sunnyvale Serra 3-0; Santa Clara Westside eliminated Campbell 2-1 in 10 innings; Santa Clara Homestead blanked Cupertino National 8-0 and beat Moreland 12-3; and the Braves of Tri-Cities pulled out a 13-10 win over the Yankees of Cupertino American.
Girls Softball
The Bandits of Sunnyvale National tamed the Wildcats of Sunnyvale Southern by swiping a 19-7 decision in the first round of the district's major division TOC.
Rochelle Hamilton doubled twice and tripled to knock in four runs for the Bandits. She was also the winning pitcher, allowing just seven hits and striking out seven in six innings of work.
Jennifer Le also doubled for the Bandits, who finished the day with 11 hits.
Kelly Verstegan was stuck with the pitching loss, despite fanning six in six innings.
Candi Latini had a double for the Wildcats.
All-Star Play
The District 44 all-star tournaments will begin Saturday, Sunnyvale Metro, National, Serra and Southern will all be represented in the major and 9-10 age divisions.
First-round games in the double-elimination major division tourney will begin June 30 and include: Cupertino National vs. Santa Clara Briarwood-El Camino at Moreland, noon; Los Altos vs. Sunnyvale Metro at Sunnyvale Southern, 2:30 p.m.; Santa Clara Westside vs. Santa Clara Homestead at Homestead, noon; Serra vs. Cupertino American at Serra, 2:30 p.m.; Sunnyvale National vs. Campbell at Serra, noon; Tri-Cities vs. Sunnyvale Southern at Southern, noon.
The Cupertino National-Briarwood winner will face Mountain View on July 2, 5:30 p.m., at Westside, and the Tri-Cities-Southern winner meets Moreland on July 2, 5:30 p.m., at Moreland.
In the double-elimination 9-10 age division tourney, the following games will be played June 30: Metro vs. Tri-Cities at Southern, noon; Cupertino American vs. Serra at Serra, noon; Moreland vs. Briarwood at Moreland, 2:30 p.m.; Mountain View vs. Cupertino National at Moreland, 2:30 p.m.; Campbell vs. Westside at Serra, 2:30 p.m.; Sunnyvale National vs. Southern at Southern, 2:30 p.m.; and Los Altos No. 1 vs. Los Altos No. 2 at Moreland, noon.
The Metro-Tri-Cities winner faces Homestead on July 2, 5:30 p.m., at Tri-Cities.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
