The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Metro A's win district crown

By Dick Sparrer

Ryan Boardman figured he could count on his teammates.

But more than that, Ryan was sure that he could count on his batterymate, and twin brother Scott, when the Sunnyvale Metro Little League A's went up against the Angels of the Santa Clara Westside Little League in the finals of the District 44 Tournament of Champions.

Ryan tossed five shut out innings, and Scott ripped a pair of singles to lead a six-hit attack and drive the A's to a 3-0 win over the Angels in the district title game.

R. Boardman gave up just two hits and four baserunners while striking out 10 in five innings of scoreless pitching. Kevin Jurovich fanned one in the sixth to pick up the save.

R. Boardman scored the only run he would really need in the game when he walked, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a clutch two-out single by first sacker Chip Lewis.

The A's picked up a couple of insurance runs in the second. Jeremy Cunningham singled and stole second before Shaun Wright walked. The two pulled off a double steal, and both scored when Jurovich's ground ball was misplayed at second. It was the first error of the tournament for the Angels.

S. Boardman led the Metro offensive attack with a pair of singles.

The Angels mounted only one serious threat when Brandon Banuelos walked to open the fifth. But R. Boardman fanned the next three hitters he faced to get out of the inning.

Jurovich retired the Angels one-two-three in the sixth to close out the victory.

The A's, managed by Al Lewix, finished the year with a 21-3 season record.

Metro earned its place in the title game with a tight 4-3 win over the Rockies of the Moreland Little League in the semifinals.

Jurovich had a pair of hits for the A's and the Boardman twins each drove in runs to spark a three-run rally in the first, but the Metro crew had to hang on in the final innings to pull out the win.

Lewis tossed five strong innings to get the win, fanning four.

Jurovich opened the game with a single to left and raced all the way to third on an error. R. Boardman followed with a ground ball to drive in the first run, and he was safe on an error. He ended up scoring two errors later.

Lewis reached on an error and eventually scored the third run of the frame on a ground out by S. Boardman.

The Rockies touched Lewis for a run in the second, but the A's got it back in the top of the third. Singles by David Gale and Lewis and a walk to S. Boardman loaded the bags, and Cunningham walked to force home a run.

Moreland battled back with two runs in the fifth to cut the lead to 4-3, but Lewis struck out the final batter of the frame with the bags loaded to get out of the jam.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, July 8, 1998.
©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.