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Metro wins District 44 championship
By Dick Sparrer
It's a long road out of the loser's bracket of a double elimination tournament.
First of all, a team can no longer afford a loss. And secondly, a team must beat the winner's bracket winner twice to wrest away the championship.
But that's exactly the road the Sunnyvale Metro Little League all-stars followed to win the District 44 major-division championship last week.
Shin Takeuchi and Larry Witkovsky notched wins on back-to-back days to help Metro two-time Santa Clara Homestead 7-0 and 3-1.
Takeuchi's performance was especially impressive. He fired a no-hitter at Santa Clara, striking out 16 to account for all but two of the outs recorded in the game.
Witkovsky followed with a gutsy performance a day later, scattering seven hits and striking out 10 to help Metro clinch the championship.
Sunnyvale trailed 1-0 heading into the last of the fifth, but opened things up with a three-run rally to jump out to a 3-1 lead.
Sean Wright opened the fifth with a single and moved to second when Takeuchi walked. Robert Martinez doubled a run home to tie the game, and Bryan Fracchia tripled home two more.
That was all Witkovsky needed. He blanked Santa Clara in the top of the sixth, and Sunnyvale had won the district championship.
Metro had rolled through the tournament with wins over Tri-Cities, Los Altos and Moreland before losing to Homestead to slip into the loser's bracket.
Sunnyvale fought back to the finals with a 9-2 win over Campbell, but Metro had to beat Homestead twice.
The locals won the first game 7-0 on Takeuchi's no-hitter. A four-run third and a three-run fourth proved the difference in the game.
Martinez singled to start the rally and raced to third on a single by Meghan Jost. Chris Knopf singled home Martinez and, after David McEvoy walked, Witkovsky drilled a two-run double. McEvoy scored when Wright reached on an error.
Martinez started the rally in the fourth with a single. Jost doubled him home and Knopf singled in Jost. Knopf, who had three hits in the win, scored on a ground out by Joey Story.
Witkovski had tossed a six-hitter and Knopf homered and doubled in the 9-2 win over Campbell. Jost had three hits in the win.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
