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Gutierrez leads National to district title
By Dick Sparrer
Winning the District 44 senior division championship was as easy as 1-2-3 for the all-stars of the Sunnyvale National Little League.
1--A tournament-opening 17-0 victory over Los Altos.
2--A 10-0 shutout win over Sunnyvale Southern.
3--A 10-1 win over Los Altos in the tournament title game.
National wrapped up the district championship with the win over Los Altos last Wednesday night in Sunnvyale, and the local stars did it in impressive fashion--blasting out 17 hits in a 10-1 victory.
With the win, Sunnyvale National earned a berth in the sectional tournament that was to begin last weekend.
Vincent Gutierrez was 4-for-5 with a home run to lead the 17-hit attack for National. He knocked in four runs and scored two runs, and he also tossed five innings on three-hit baseball to get the mound win.
Robert Perry doubled and singled twice for National, and Daniel Murrell and Chris Dunwoody also doubled in the win.
National advanced to the title game by blanking Sunnyvale Southern 10-0. Tyler Duran was the winning pitcher and he also homered for National in the game.
Murrell and Gutierrez each doubled for National and Kyle Arroyo ripped a triple.
Sunnyvale National had opened the tourney with the 17-0 win over Los Altos. Duran and Troy Tulowitzki each blasted a three-run homer and each doubled in the win. Scott Boardman ripped three hits for Sunnyvale and Murrell doubled twice.
Duran tossed four no-hit innings to get the pitching win.
Many players on the Sunnyvale National senior all-star squad played for the Sunnyvale National major division team that won the District 44 championship in 1997 and advanced all the way to the finals of the Western Region Championships in San Bernadino. That club lost 2-1 in the championship game with the winner going on to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
Sunnyvale Southern opened the tournament with wins over Tri-Cities and Cupertino National before losing two straight to Sunnyvale National and Los Altos.
Willie Hayes had three hits and a walk and Daniel Sizemore was 3-for-3 with a double to lead Southern to a 10-2 win over Tri-Cities.
A game later, Will Fawls had two hits and Hayes doubled to lead Southern to a tight 9-8 win over Cupertino National. Kyle Severns was the winning pitcher.
But Southern lost 10-0 to National, then faced elimination after an 11-1 loss to Los Altos.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
