Top Team: The Indians celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Willow Glen Little League by winning the District 12 Tournament of Champions after winning the major division title in their own league. Members of the team included (front row, l-r) Eric Kuehne, Johnny Cantero, Jasdon Jeffrey, Kellene Condie, Luis Machuca, Bronson Laviano and Bryce Leanza; (middle row, l-r) Dennis Schoonmaker, Mark Canha, Adam Racobs and Chris Vargas; and (back row, l-r) league president Jenice Condie, manager Lance Leanza, Danny Dyer, coach Dan Dyer and coach Jim Jeffrey.
Indians win district tournament
League celebrates 50th anniversary with Indians win
By Dick Sparrer
The Willow Glen Indians seem to have a flair for the dramatic.
When Willow Glen Little League president Jenice Condie and the rest of the board members were making plans for the celebration of the league's 50th anniversary, they were thinking about special opening day ceremonies, inviting back special guests and holding league picnics.
The Indians, it seems, had other ideas.
Lance Leanza's club went out and won the league's major division championship, then backed that up by winning the District 12 major division Tournament of Champions.
Winning district gold on the league's golden anniversary... now what could be more appropriate?
"It's been a very exciting season for Willow Glen," said Leanza, the Indians' manager. "Willow Glen is usually an underdog in any District 12 tournament because of our very small enrollment size, compared to bigger Little Leagues like Los Gatos and Almaden who are more than twice our size."
And Willow Glen beat them both--along with Saratoga and Union--to claim the district championship.
"To win the TOC for Willow Glen in their 50th anniversary season was a nice accomplishment for the kids," added Leanza.
The Indians, 22-4 during the regular season in Willow Glen, opened the TOC with a thrilling 3-2 win over the Los Gatos A's, then beat the Saratoga Angels 8-5 and the Union Pirates 13-2 before edging the Almaden Indians 9-7 in the title game.
Danny Dyer ripped a two-run home run and Dennis Schoonmaker blasted a grand slam to lead Willow Glen to the win over Almaden.
Dyer's homer helped the Indians bolt out to a 5-0 lead, but Almaden battled back to cut the lead to just 5-4 after three innings. So when Dyer stepped to the plate in the fourth with two runners aboard, Almaden chose to walk him to load the bases and pitch to Schoonmaker.
Not bad strategy, considering that Dyer was the league's top home-run hitter this spring--until you consider that Schoonmaker was second in the league in homers.
Photograph by Grant Wernick
Windup: Willow Glen hurler Dennis Schoonmaker uncorks a pitch in a 3-2 win over Los Gatos in the first round of the TOC.
Schoonmaker crushed the first pitch he saw over the center field fence to give Willow Glen a commanding 9-4 lead.
That was all Schoonmaker needed to nail down the title-clinching win. The hurler went on to toss a complete game, and the Willow Glen Indians were District 12 TOC champions.
The road to that title was not an easy won, though.
Willow Glen ran head-first into a powerful Los Gatos team in the first round of the tourney, and had to battle right down to the wire to clinch a 3-2 win.
The Indians led 3-2 heading into the sixth inning, but Gatos loaded the bases with no outs. Dyer was called in from the bullpen and did his job in Robb Nen fashion, striking out the side to preserve the victory.
Willow Glen advanced to the second round against the Saratoga Angels, and fell behind 4-0 early in the game. But the Indians fought back to take a 6-4 lead and went on to record an 8-5 victory.
Chris Vargas and Mark Canha teamed up to toss the Indians to the important win.
The Tribe unloaded on the Union Pirates in the semifinals, rolling to a 13-2 victory. Dyer went the distance to get the win in the game that went just four innings because of the 10-run rule.
That put the Indians into the TOC title game against Almaden.
The Indians won both the first and second half titles in the Willow Glen regular season, which included games against the American Little League (the leagues interlocked this year).
The Tribe topped the circuit with 27 home runs, a team batting average of .398 and a team earned run average of 2.18.
Members of the championship team included Canha, Dyer, Vargas, Schoonmaker, Johnny Cantero, Kellene Condie, Jason Jeffrey, Eric Kuehne, Bronson Laviano, Bryce Leanza, Luis Machuca and Adam Racobs. L. Leanza was the club's manager and Jim Jeffrey and Dan Dyer were his coaches.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
