The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Metro hosts District 44 TOC

Angels in title game, but which Angels?

By Dick Sparrer

One thing's for certain about the final rounds of the District 44 Little League Major Division Tournament of Champions this week: The Angels are going to be playing for the championship on July 1 at the Sunnyvale Metro Little League home.

It could be the Angels of the Cupertino National Little League, or it could be the Angels of the Santa Clara Westside Little League. But one of the two clubs will be playing for the title at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

The two bands of Angels were to fly into the tournament semifinal round on Monday night, with the winner moving into the finals.

In the other semi game, the A's of the Sunnyvale Metro Little League were to battle the Rockies of the Moreland Little League. That winner will advance to the title game against the Angels ... one league or the other.

The Cupertino National Angels and Sunnyvale Metro A's both opened the TOC with back-to-back wins.

The Angels nipped the Sunnyvale Southern Rockies 6-5 and edged the Sunnyvale National Dodgers 2-1 to advance to the semifinals.

The A's, meanwhile, pounded Los Altos 11-0 and handled the Marlins of the Santa Clara Homestead Little League 6-1 to move into the semi's.

Cupertino opened the TOC with a thrilling 6-5 win over the Southern Rockies, and the Angels pulled out the win in the final frame.

Cupertino trailed 5-4 heading into the bottom of the sixth, but scored twice to pull out the win.

The Rockies had jumped in front 5-4 in the top of the frame. Willie Hayes walked and moved around the bases on a walk and a fielder's choice before racing home on a passed ball to give his club the lead.

But the Angels came back with the rally in the home half of the frame to win it.

Cupertino National had another tough one a game later, but pulled out a 2-1 win over the Sunnyvale National Dodgers.

The Boardman twins, Scott and Ryan, each homered and nailed pitching wins for the Sunnyvale Metro A's in the first two games of the district tournament.

Scott Boardman crushed a three-run homer to spark Metro to the 11-0 win over Los Altos. He was also the winning pitcher.

Ryan Boardman clubbed a two-run homer and also singled home a run to pace the A's to a 6-1 win over the SC Homestead Marlins. He was touched for one unearned run on his way to the mound victory.

Kevin Jurovich homered, doubled twice and singled in the A's win over the Marlins, and David Gale was three-for-three with a couple of doubles.

Nine of Metro's 12 hits in the win went for extra bases.

Moreland gained its place in the semifinals with an impressive 16-5 win over the Cardinals of the Tri-Cities Little League and a 5-1 victory over the Campbell Little League's Willow Glen Optimists.

In other first round games, the Sunnyvale Serra Angels beat Cupertino American 5-2 before losing to Westside 7-5, and the Sunnyvale National Dodgers knocked off the Mountain View Red Sox before losing to Cupertino American.

Should the Sunnyvale Metro's A's have won on Monday, they will be playing for the District 44 TOC crown on their home field at Raynor Park on Quail Avenue.

White Sox win

The White Sox rolled to their fifth straight win in the Sunnyvale National senior division, edging the Phillies 5-4 at Fair Oaks Park.

Joe Silva tossed five innings of one-hit baseball to pick up the mound win for the Sox.

Kai Garcia got the Phillies back into the game with a two-run single to key a three run rally in the sixth, but Nick Pullano came on in relief for the White Sox and blanked the Phils in the seventh to get the save.

Pullano singled and doubled to knock in two runs and he scored another to lead the Sox to the victory. Ali Akhavi had two hits in the win, and Laniel Harvey doubled home a couple of runs. Silva singled home a run to advance his cause.

Earlier in the week, Akhavi went the distance to toss a one-hitter in an 8-3 win over the Braves in Los Altos. Akhavi struck out four and walked three in the game.

Akhavi ripped a pair of doubles in the win, and Ronnie Cerda singled twice to drive in a couple of runs. Pullano blasted a 350-foot double off the fence, and Esteban Carbajal singled in a run.

Cerda's three-hitter sparked the White Sox to an 8-2 win over the Braves. Cerda fanned five and walked five, and helped his own cause with a two-run double. Pullano had two hits to plate two runs. Harvey doubled, Akhavi and Robert Schmidt each singled home runs and Daniel Guevara had a hit.

Pullano singled home the game-winning run and tossed two scoreless innings of relief in a tight 14-13 win over the Sunnyvale Southern Indians. Cerda had doubled home the tying run before Pullano won it with a single.

Mike Beasley and Pullano each had two hits and Guevara scored three runs.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, July 1, 1998.
©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.