League of Their Own: Team members of the Lincoln Glen Little League major division all-stars include (front row, l-r) John Shaffer, Kevin Becker, Jose Garcia, Tyler Ivie and Greg Shannon, and (back row, l-r) coach Rich Shaffer, K.C. Brooks, Stephan Rebagliati, Jason Sims, Zack Brandt, coach Scott Sims, John Wilhelm, Ben Shaw, Jimmer Castignani and manager Curt Becker.
Tough losses for Lincoln Glen
Local all-stars third in district
By Dick Sparrer
A tournament that started out so encouraging ended up rather discouraging for the Lincoln Glen Little League major division all-star team.
The Lincoln Glen club opened the District 12 all-star tournament with wins over Branham Hills, Union and Almaden to advance to the finals of the winner's bracket.
But a pair of heartbreaking extra inning losses brought the Lincoln Glen season to an abrupt and disappointing finish.
"We had some tough breaks," said Lincoln Glen manager Curt Becker, whose club ended up third in the district tourney.
Lincoln Glen lost 9-7 in eight innings to Saratoga to slip into the loser's side of the bracket. Then the locals dropped a 3-2 decision in seven innings to Almaden to face elimination.
Lincoln Glen fell behind Almaden 2-0 early in the game, but John Wilhelm tied things up in a hurry when he blasted the first pitch he saw in the fourth inning for a two-run homer.
Greg Shannon, on in relief of Lincoln Glen starter Jimmer Castignani who had tossed three strong innings to open the game, blanked Almaden for three innings before getting touched for a single run in the seventh. That proved to be Almaden's margin of victory.
Almaden went on to beat Saratoga two straight to claim the District 12 championship and advance to the sectional tournament that's being hosted by Lincoln Glen.
The Lincoln Glen all-stars had opened the tournament with an 8-4 win over Branham Hills, then beat Union 8-2 and Almaden 8-2 to advance to the match-up with Saratoga.
Members of the Lincoln Glen all-star team included Wilhelm, Shannon, Castignani, John Shaffer, Kevin Becker, Jose Garcia, Tyler Ivie, K.C. Brooks, Stephan Rebagliati, Jason Sims, Zack Brandt and Ben Shaw. The team was managed by C. Becker, and his coaches were Rick Shaffer and Scott Sims.
Section tourney
The sectional tournament began last week at the Lincoln Glen field. In early action, Sunnyvale Metro beat Oak Ridge, Hartnell topped Soquel, Metro blanked Almaden 2-0, Oak Ridge eliminated both Soquel and Almaden with victories, and Metro knocked off Hartnell 10-8.
Pacific Pintos win
It was a tense situation for a first-year all-star to step into. The score was tied 3-3 with one out in the bottom of the third in the first round of the regional tournament when Johnny Marciano was called in to pitch for the San Jose Pacific Pony League Pinto Division all-stars against Morgan Hill American.
But Marciano proved to be up to the challenge. The young hurler, a Willow Glen resident, struck out the first two batters he faced to get out of the jam, and Pacific went on to claim the victory.
It was Pacific's first step to winning the regional championship in Rodeo, Calif. San Jose had beaten Morgan Hill National 3-2 a week earlier to take the sectional title.
After getting Pacific out of the jam in the third at the regionals, Marciano put down Morgan Hill one-two-three in the fourth, and the San Jose crew, led by Tyler Christian and Max Michaelis, went on to nail the victory.
Members of the championship team included Marciano, Christian, Michaelis, Josh Harnden, Nick Sarabia, Robert Artery, Trevor Dyer, Kevin Riller, Taylor Martin, Matthew Yanez, Ryan Thomas, Kevin Burchfield and Tyler Heinkel.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
