By DICK SPARRER
Manah Mehta pitched well. And he hit the ball great. But his efforts weren't enough to drive the Sunnyvale Metro Little League Dodgers to a win over the Briarwood-El Camino Cardinals in the finals of the District 44 major division Tournament of Champions.
Mehta had hit and pitched the Dodgers to an 8-4 win over the Santa Clara Westside Cubs in the semifinals, and he came back with solid hitting and pitching performances in the finals against the Cards. But the Dodgers lost a 3-1 heartbreaker in the title game.
Mehta singled and doubled at the plate and struck out 10 on the mound, but the Dodgers were touched for two runs in the first and a run in the fifth to drop the 3-1 decision.
Mehta had opened the game with a single, but was cut down on a doubleplay. It turned out to be a big play for the Cards when Brandon Scripps tripled later in the inning.
The Dodgers trailed 3-0 heading into the sixth when Mehta and Scripps each doubled to break up the shutout. But that was as close as they would get.
A game earlier, Mehta fanned six in three innings of work to get the win in an 8-4 victory over the Cubs. Vince Clumper went the final three innings for the Dodgers.
Mehta had three hits for the winners and Scripps singled and doubled to drive in two runs. Clumper had two hits to knock in a pair of runs, Jimmy Chetum had two hits and Matt Jasper doubled. Jesse Casellini dripped a two-run single in the first to start the Dodgers on the road to the victory.
Mehta was an impressive 11-for-14 in the tourney (.786 average) with five doubles and a homer to knock in seven runs. Scripps was 8-for-13 (.615) with three doubles, a triple and three homers to drive in 10 runs.
Senior division
A single run in the fifth snapped a 1-1 tie and lifted the Tri-Cities Little League Yankees into the finals of the District 44 senior division Tournament of Champions.
But the Yanks dropped a 10-0 decision to the Briarwood-El Camino Braves in the finals to settle for second in the rugged TOC.
Jeff Collins, Steve Munoz and Aly Roohi each singled, but the Yankees could manage just three hits in the title game.
A game earlier, the Yankees had just two hits but made them stand up for a tight 2-1 win over the Cupertino National Rangers.
Geoff Pittman doubled and Mike Pittman singled to account for the Yanks scoring. Mike Runfola picked up the pitching win for Tri-Cities.
Steve Aldridge, Mark McCollough and Gessen Grant each singled for the Rangers. Ryan Watkins was stuck with the tough pitching loss.
Munoz was the winning pitcher and Dan Barczi had the game-winning hit for the Yankees in a 6-3 win over the Cupertino American Giants to open the tourney. Munoz fanned six.
Tim McShurley was 3-for-3 with a double to lead the attack for the Giants.
The Cupertino National Rangers had opened tourney play with a tight 8-7 win over the Sunnyvale Southern Yankees. John Frecciri and Jeff Sillog each doubled for the Yanks in the loss.
Junior division
The Cupertino American Dodgers dropped a tough 8-4 decision to the Los Altos Yankees in the finals of the District 44 Junior Division (13-year-olds) Tournament of Champions.
Los Altos had opened with a 4-3 win over Sunnyvale Southern and a 9-2 victory over Santa Clara Homestead.
Minor division
Easton Friedling ripped three hits, but the Sunnyvale Metro Little League Cardinals dropped a tight 9-8 decision to Campbell Memorex in the finals of the District 44 minor division Tournament of Champions.
Run-scoring singles by Chad McNerary and Paul Rabe sparked a 5-run rally in the third when the Cardinals took a 6-5 lead against Campbell.
The Cards upped their lead to 8-5 in the fourth. Nick Hartley reached on an error, raced to third on a single by Friedling and scored on a balk. Friedling later scored on a squeeze bunt by Justin Rush.
But Campbell tied the game with three in the home half of the fourth, then won it with a run in the sixth.
The Cards opened the tourney with a 14-4 win over the Sunnyvale Serra Giants, beat Briarwood-El Camino 16-10 and handled the Moreland Mariners 14-9 to reach the finals.
The Sunnyvale Southern Mariners opened the tourney with a 9-2 win over Los Altos American brefore losing 13-1 to Campbell.
In first round games, Sunnyvale National was edged 7-6 by Moreland and Tri-Cities lost 3-1 to Los Altos Hills.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, July 10, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.