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Special Order: Burger King took the major division championship in the Lincoln Glen Little League this season. Members of the championship team included (front row, l-r) Conor Schott, Jose Garcia, Kyle Lundquist, John Shaffer, Kevin Becker and James Randazzo, and (back row, l-r) manager Curt Becker, Brad Wallberg, Will Schmidt, Scottie Glicksberg, coach Mark Schmidt, William Hartsell, Nicky Graziano, Erik Wallberg and coach Rick Shaffer.
Burger King wins major title
Lincoln Glen LL 'star teams win
By Dick Sparrer
It used to be that Burger King's advertising campaign encouraged patrons to "have it your way."
But that's just the way it was this year for the Burger King entry in the Lincoln Glen Little League major division.
Because the Burger King kids certainly "had it their way" as they rolled through the season to the major division championship.
Burger King opened the year with just a win in its first three games, but then went on a tear, winning 18 straight games to claim the major division crown.
Ebert Construction, behind the one-two pitching punch of Jason Sims and Jimmer Castignani, posted a 9-1 record to win the first-half championship.
Burger King finished second in the first half with an 8-2 mark, then recorded a 10-0 record to win the second half title and force a championship playoff.
Scottie Glicksberg blasted a grand slam, and John Shaffer was dominant on the mound as Burger King whipped Ebert Construction 11-2 in the league championship game.
Kevin Becker was the offensive star for Burger King during the regular season, notching an outstanding .606 batting average. Twenty of his 40 hits were doubles.
Shaffer hit .431 with four home runs, and Jose Garcia hit .418 with a homer. Shaffer and Garcia were the top pitchers for Burger King.
Nicky Graziano hit .387 with a couple of four-baggers, and Glicksberg hit .369 with a team-leading six home runs.
The Burger King crew went on to the District 12 Tournament of Champions at the Willow Glen Little League field and defeated American, 9-1 before losing a 5-4 heartbreaker to Union.
Garcia struck out 13 on his way to the pitching win against American and Becker and Glicksberg each homered.
Shaffer homered twice to drive in four runs to help Lincoln Glen jump out to a 4-2 lead against Union a game later, but a three-run homer by Billy Flick helped Union pull out the win.
Major all-stars
The Saratoga Little League 12-year-old all-stars will just sit back as spectators early this week... watching to see who they will meet in the finals of the District 12 all-star tournament.
Saratoga pulled out a thrilling 9-7 extra-inning win over Lincoln Glen last Saturday to earn its place in the championship game. Now 'Toga will just wait to see who shows up for the title game on Wednesday night.
Almaden and Union were to collide on Monday with the winner to face Lincoln Glen on Tuesday night. That winner would advance to the tourney title game on July 21, 5:30 p.m., against Saratoga at the American Little League field, located at Monroe and Hedding behind Valley Fair in San Jose.
Saratoga, unbeaten in the tourney, would have to lose twice to give up the title.
Lincoln Glen opened the tournament with an 8-4 win over Branham Hills before pounding Union and Almaden by matching 8-2 scores. The locals lost 9-7 in eight innings to Saratoga last weekend.
Members of the Lincoln Glen all-star team include Shaffer, Becker and Garcia of Burger King and Sims and Castignani of Ebert, along with Tyler Ivie, Greg Shannon, K.C. Brooks, Stephan Rebagliati, Zack Brandt, John Wilhelm and Ben Shaw. The manager is C. Becker, and his coaches are R. Shaffer and Scott Sims.
Senior all-stars
A little old-fashioned baseball trickery helped the Lincoln Glen senior division all-stars wrap up a win in the second round of the District 12 tournament.
The local seniors had opened the tourney with a 4-2 win over rival Willow Glen, and they were leading Branham Hills 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh in the second game when they pulled off the old hidden ball trick to clinch the win.
The potential tying run was on second, with two outs in the seventh, when second sacker Mike Maida took the ball from pitcher Nathan McDonald. As McDonald moved to the mound, the runner at second hopped off the bag. Maida tagged him out, and Lincoln Glen had locked up a 4-3 victory.
Maida had pitched four strong innings to open the game for Lincoln Glen, striking out five and allowing just one run, but it was McDonald picking up the win in relief. He struck out four in three innings.
A three-run rally in the sixth proved LG's margin of victory. Maida reached on an error and raced to third on a double by Danny Yoder. Pete Watts pushed home Maida with a squeeze bunt that went for a single, and Yoder scored on a wild pitch. Brian McCullough, on to run for Watts, scored on an infield roller by Lee Dionne.
Dionne had scored the first run of the game for Lincoln Glen. He singled in the second, stole both second and third, and scored on a single by Andrew Trapani.
Kevin Shull tossed Lincoln Glen to the 4-2 win over Willow Glen in the opener. Shull struck out 12, and both the runs he allowed were unearned.
Lincoln Glen jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first. Maida singled and scored on a double by Watts, who ultimately scored on a couple of wild pitches.
Chris Ralston singled and stole home in the second to make it 3-0. In the fourth, Scott Wallberg singled but was forced at second by Trapani. Trapani stole second and scored on a pinch single by Yoder.
Michael DeBono, Chuck Nadeau, Bryson Reedy and Will Shaffer are other members of the Lincoln Glen senior all-star team.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
