Photograph by Douglas Rider

Brian Labadie of the Sunnyvale Serra Little League all-star team slides safely into third base before third sacker Matt Bell of Cupertino American could apply the tag




Serra's Twins win District 44 TOC

Cheetahs claim major softball TOC crown

By Dick Sparrer

It may sound somehow appropriate, but things seemed to come in pairs for the Twins of the Sunnyvale Serra Little League in the championship game of the District 44 minor division Tournament of Champions.

A pair of home runs, two solid pitching performances and a couple of outstanding defensive plays sparked the Twins to a second straight TOC minor division championship for the Serra Little League.

Michael Pilling blasted a grand slam and Andrew Schwartz homered and tossed three no-hit innings to lead the Twins to a solid 6-4 win over the Pirates of the Santa Clara Westside Little League in the tournament championship game.

Schwartz led off the game with a solo homer in the top of the first, then he took the mound to blank the Pirates over the first three frames.

The hurler took a slim 1-0 lead into the third inning, but Pilling added to that when he ripped a grand slam over the left field fence.

Schwartz walked three and hit one batter, but he allowed no hits or runs in his three innings of work. Trevor Greyson finished up to get the save, striking out seven and allowing just four hits over the final three innings.

Outstanding defensive plays by Santos Solario and Doug Hofstetter helped the hurlers hold down the Pirates. Solario made an outstanding running catch in center field to take an extra-base hit away from a Santa Clara hitter, and Hofstetter made a fine catch on a line drive, followed by a strong throw to double a runner off first.

Hofstetter also contributed at the plate with a double and a single for the Twins.

The Twins had beaten Tri-Cities and Santa Clara Briarwood-El Camino to get into the TOC finals, and the Pirates had knocked off Sunnyvale Metro and Los Altos Hills.

The Twins rolled to a 12-0 win over the Pirates of the Tri-Cities Little League in the tourney quarterfinals.

Schwartz gave up just one hit and struck out five over three innings to get the pitching win and Hofstetter and Greyson each ripped doubles in the win.

Major division TOC

The District 44 major division TOC crown went to the Mountain View Red Sox, who beat the Yankees of Santa Clara Homestead 3-0 in the title game.

The Sox beat the Sunnyvale National Phillies, the Tri-Cities Braves and Santa Clara Westside before knocking off the Yanks in the finals.

Major softball TOC

Jackie Desjardin flipped a four-inning no-hitter to lead the Sunnyvale Metro Cheetahs to a 12-2 win over the Sunnyvale National Bandits in the finals of the District 44 major softball TOC.

Desjardin struck out 10 in four innings but walked seven. She was touched for single runs in the second and fourth innings when walks, stolen bases and passed balls led to runs for the Bandits.

Kristen Wheatley led the Cheetahs at the plate with a triple, a single and a walk. She scored a run and drove home two.

Audrey Gallien, Lauren Burns and Alicia Tikalsky also tripled in the win for the Cheetahs.

Three triples and a singled in the first inning led to a four-run rally, and a triple and two singles in the second keyed a six-run outburst for the Cheetahs.

All-Star play

Robert Ramer singled and doubled to drive in three runs to lead Sunnyvale Southern to a 6-2 win over Tri-Cities in the major division all-star opener for each club.

Jarrod Haering also had two hits for the Southern in the win and Brandon Babot and Austin Daly each doubled.

John Austin struck out four and scattered six hits over five innings to pick up the pitching win.

Tri-Cities jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a couple of runs in the top of the first, but Southern answered with three in the home half of the first to take the lead. The winners added two insurance runs in the third and another run in the fifth.

In other major division action, Los Altos rolled over Sunnyvale Metro 10-2 and Cupertino National pulled out a 5-1 win over Santa Clara Briarwood-El Camino.

In the 9-10 age division, Evan Whitehead flipped a three-hitter to lead Sunnyvale Metro to an 11-4 win over Tri-Cities in first-round action.

Whitehead was touched for just three hits and four runs, but Tri-Cities scored all four of those runs in the third to tie the game 4-4.

Metro, an early leader with a four-run first, rallied for four in the fifth to regain the lead, then picked up three more in the sixth to ice the game.

David Ometer was the leading hitter for Metro.

James Sierras, like Metro's Whitehead, went the distance to toss a three-hitter to lead Sunnyvale National to a tight 5-4 win over Sunnyvale Southern. Sierras allowed just three hits and struck out eight in six innings of work.

Darek Johnson singled and doubled to lead a six-hit offensive assault for National. Daniel Guttierez, Robert Ramirez and Sierras each doubled in the win.

Southern jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the second and another run in the third.

National battled back with three in the bottom of the third, and it could have been more if not for Southern center fielder Jeff Meadows. The center fielder chased down the double by Ramirez and threw out a National runner at the plate, then made a fine running catch to end the inning.

But Southern tied it with a run in the fourth and took the 5-4 lead with a run in the fifth.

Sierras blanked Southern over the final three frames to clinch the win.

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