The Sunnyvale Sun
Sports
Reed blasts two homers to lift Cards
By Mike Barnhart
For Little Leaguers at any level, hitting a home run is a rarity and a big thrill.
So, imagine the thrill Richard Reed of the Sunnyvale Metro Little League Cardinals must have had last week in the District 44 Minor Tournament of Champions when he launched two home runs over the fence at the Briarwood-El Camino major field in Santa Clara.
And, all of the Cardinals were absolutely thrilled to capture a 17-5 victory over the Sunnyvale National A's in the first-round TOC match-up on June 21.
Pitchers for the A's had a tough time finding the strike zone, walking 11 batters and hitting three others during the four-inning game, but Reed--the biggest player on the field--picked out a couple of pitches that he liked.
In the first inning, with the bases loaded and no outs, Reed blasted the third pitch he saw over the left field barrier for a grand slam and a 4-0 lead. Three innings later, with his team enjoying a 13-1 lead and a runner on third, Reed clubbed another offering over the fence in left for two more runs.
Reed also was dominant on the mound, getting five of seven possible outs by strikeout, while pitching the first 2 1/3 innings. After reaching the 40-pitch mark, Reed moved over to first base and Shouvik Paul finished the remainder of the Cardinals' pitching duties.
In addition to Reed's two bombs, the Cardinals had seven other hits, two each by catcher Sid Iyer and third baseman Nathan Tokuno. Five of the hits came in the Cards' six-run fourth, which included Reed's two-run homer, a two-run triple by Tokuno, a triple by Paul and an RBI double by Arthur Pan.
Reed, Paul, Iyer and Tokuno all scored three runs for the Cardinals. Kent Sasaki, who had a bunt single and an RBI, and Gavin Van Steenburgh, Srikesh Srinivas, Lee Fredericks and Anthony Deak also scored runs.
The Sunnyvale National A's never gave up, and they rallied for four runs in the last of the fourth. Shortstop D.J. Briones, who finished with two hits and two runs scored, ripped a two-run double and Nick Del Rosario added a two-run single.
Briones, Del Rosario and Mike Dobson all had two hits for the A's. Albert Burse III chipped in with a single.
Other team members of the A's were Joseph Richardson, Colby LaChance, Tyler Allen, Steven Dobson, Brandon Sites and Austin Helling.
Unfortunately for the Metro champions, they could not get past the Moreland Red Sox two days later at Wilson Park in Cupertino. Although the Cardinals rallied from a 7-0 deficit to tie the game with seven runs in the fifth inning, the Red Sox tagged on six runs in the seventh inning to knock the Cardinals out of the single-elimination tournament.
Other team members were William Hanel and Chris Seebart.
With the win, the Moreland champions moved on to the semifinal round to take on the Cupertino National Giants, who followed a bye with a victory over the Los Altos-Los Altos Hills champion.
The Moreland-Cupertino National survivor will move on to the championship game against either the Briarwood-El Camino Athletics or the Santa Clara Westside Mets, June 27 at Purissima Park in Los Altos.
The Athletics advanced by beating the Sunnyvale Southern Giants 13-0. The Giants had a first-round bye, while the Athletics beat the Campbell champion 16-3.
In other first round games, the Serra Mets dropped a 17-6 decision to Los Altos, the Cupertino American Yankees lost 19-3 to Santa Clara-Homestead and Moreland dumped the Tri-Cities Giants 14-6.
Junior TOC
Despite solid pitching from starter Alex Chapman and Mathew Hopkins, the Serra Mets dropped a tough 6-4 decision to the Los Altos Giants in eight innings. The Mets, the sixth seed in the eight-team tourney, finished the regular season in sixth place out of 14 District 44 junior clubs. After the TOC loss, the Mets' final record was 10-9-1.
Other members of the Mets were David Bauer, Gautum Chandiok, Brad Crane, Brandon Erickson, Zachary James, Mark Jones, Matt Kelley, Sebastian Lee, Jimmy Roslund, Kapil Talwalker and Damon Wong. The manager was Jim Roslund, Sr.
Major TOC
None of Sunnyvale's champions made it through the first round of the 14-team major TOC, but the Southern Mets sure gave the Santa Clara-Homestead Yankees a scare.
The Yankees needed a two-run rally in the last of the fifth to overtake the Mets and advance to the second round.
Nikko Hill of the Mets pitched 4 1/3 innings of hitless ball, striking out eight batters, and had two hits, including a run-scoring double. Prudvi Gadiraju added a two-run single for the Mets.
The Homestead champion went on to beat the Briarwood-El Camino White Sox 5-3, earning a semifinal date with the Moreland Diamondbacks. The Homestead-Moreland survivor advanced to the championship game on June 26 against the Cupertino National Giants or the Santa Clara Westside Giants.
The Westside Giants who did not allow a run in their first two games, as pitching ace Dakota Goularte was brilliant on the mound.
After working three hitless innings in a 12-0 romp against the Sunnyvale National Giants, Goularte dazzled the Sunnyvale Metro A's with a 4-0, complete-game no-hitter. He struck out 12 Metro batters and allowed just two base runners, while Nicholas Molina threw blanks in four of his five innings of work for the A's. Westside scored all of its runs in the bottom of the third, mixing five hits and two Metro errors.
The A's, who had a bye in the first round, reached the TOC after compiling an outstanding 20-4 record. In addition to Molina, team members of the Metro champ were Thomas Ball, Maximo Brogley, Daniel Chae, Tyler Hawkinson, Cole Kundich, Joseph Manuel, Davis Messer, Ahmed Qureshi, David Sarver, Zachary Tokuno and Alex Williamson.
The Sunnyvale National Giants fell behind the Westside Giants right away, with Goularte's lead-off home run in the first and four runs in the second.
Sunnyvale National had runners on base in every inning except the second, but was unable to score due to Westside's excellent pitching and defense.
Sunnyvale National ended the season with a 15-10 overall record. Team members were Abraham Zeng, Brian Zeng, Eli Sebastian, Joseph Arebalo, Justin Rajah, Lexy "Bubba" Winters, Quinton LaChance, Raymond Cordero, Robbie Hardman, Tony Montano and Vincent Renteria.
The Serra A's lost their tourney opener 4-2 to the Cupertino American Dodgers.
The A's never led in the game, but kept the game close with solo runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Pablo Lozano doubled home Ross Slaney in the fourth, and Slaney doubled home Kevin Barbano in the fifth. Jeffrey Hardy struck out eight Dodgers while pitching in relief for the A's. Slaney and Hardy both had two hits.
The Serra champion's final record was 19-6. After going 15-4 in the regular season, the A's reached the TOC by winning four straight league playoff games after losing their first one.
A three-run sixth inning broke up a tie, as the A's beat the Mets 8-5 in the Serra championship game on June 16. Joel Kitchen singled home the go-ahead run and Lozano followed with a two-run hit in the decisive sixth. Sharing the pitching duties, Lozano and Hardy combined for 13 strikeouts.
