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Metro wins District 44 title

They did it the hard way. But the Sunnyvale Metro Little League all-stars did it--they won the District 44 major division championship by beating Santa Clara Homestead in two straight games.

Metro came out of the loser's bracket to upset unbeaten Homestead last Tuesday, then won 19-18 in a slugfest in the "if necessary" game two nights later.

The championship game actually started on Wednesday night but was suspended by darkness with the score knotted at 18-18 after six innings.

The clubs went into extra innings on Thursday, and Adam Wegener ended it all in the home half of the eighth when he doubled, stole third and raced home when the throw got away to score the game winning run.

The run gave Metro the district championship and sent the local all-stars on to the Section 5 tournament that was to begin last Saturday at Aptos Junior High.

It was a championship game like District 44 has never seen before. Santa Clara unloaded for 10 runs in the top of the first, only to see Sunnyvale answer back with 11 runs in the bottom of the frame.

Homestead regained the lead and took an 18-14 cushion into the bottom of the sixth, but Metro rallied for four runs to tie things up and send the game into extra innings a day later.

Wegener was on the hill when darkness ended the game on Wednesday, and he returned to the mound on Thursday to blank Santa Clara in the seventh and eighth. He ended up the winning pitcher, striking out 12 and allowing just seven hits in seven and a third innings.

Metro had beaten Homestead
5-0 to set up the championship contest; a game earlier, Metro had dropped the Cupertino Little League all-stars out of the tournament with a 12-2 win.

Metro kept itself alive in the loser's bracket earlier in the tournament by beating Moreland in a tight 5-5 win. The locals won the game when Chris Knopf raced home after a passed ball to break a 5-5 tie in the last of the sixth.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, July 29, 1998.
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