Photgraph by Sebastian Widmann
He Slides: Lincoln Glen's Justin Johnson slides home with the tying run in Section 5 tournament play. The junior all-stars went on to beat Gilroy 8-3.
Lincoln Glen loses heartbreaker
League hosts Senior Western Regionals
By Dick Sparrer
Michael Ralston was hoping that his Lincoln Glen Little League senior division all-star team could find just a little more magic--the kind of magic his club manufactured in a thrilling 3-2 extra-inning win over Union in the District 12 championship game.
But when the Lincoln Glen all-stars battled Sunnyvale for the Section 5 championship at Ida Price Middle School, the local boys simply ran out of magic.
Lincoln Glen lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to Sunnyvale in the finals of the tournament to wind up second in the sectional tournament.
"It was a terrific championship game played by both teams," said Ralston after the finals.
And that it was.
Lincoln Glen led 3-1 heading into the sixth. But the Sunnyvale 'stars, who had blasted three homers in a 16-5 win over Lincoln Glen a game earlier, took advantage of a three-run homer to grab a 4-3 lead.
The locals had one last gasp in the top of the seventh when Danny Yoder singled and stole second. But he was left stranded there as Sunnyvale nailed down the win and championship.
Sunnyvale advanced to the divisional tournament in Sacramento, but lost there was Union City American won the division title.
Lincoln Glen opened the sectional with an 11-0 win over Gilroy. Kevin Shull, Nathan McDonald and Doug Dionne combined forces to toss the shutout. Shill struck out five in three innings and McDonald and Dionne fanned two apiece in an inning each on the hill.
Yoder homered and singled twice for Lincoln, knocking in two runs and scoring a pair. Michael Glomb had two hits and Adam Wright doubled home two runs. Andy Alves scored three times in the win.
Alves went three innings to get the win a game later in a 6-1 win over Sunnyvale. Alves struck out four in his stint.
McDonald tossed one scoreless inning and Will Shaffer flipped three shutout innnings to get the save.
Dionne doubled and singled twice to knock in two runs. Shull had two hits and Glomb scored twice.
Lincoln Glen lost 16-5 to Sunnyvale a game later, but jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the title game.
Glomb was hit by a pitch to open the third and Shull singled. Yoder singled both runners home, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jimmy Garcia.
But Sunnyvale battled back for the win and the tournament championship.
Members of the Lincoln Glen squad included Alves, Dionne, Garcia, Glomb, Andrew Kawahara, McDonald, Tista Perri, Bobby Ralston, Shaffer, Shull, Michael Wittmayer, Wright, Da. Yoder and Dustin Yoder.
Western Regional
Lincoln Glen is currently hosting the Senior Western Regional tournament at Patric/Housewart Field at Markham Middle School.
The tournament is one of just four of its kind being played from Aug. 5-9. The winner of each tournament will advance to the Senior Division World Series in Florida.
Teams in the four-team tournament include Aiea (Hawaii); Union City American (Northern California); El Monte South (Southern California); and Eagle Creek Little League (Eagle Creek, Col.).
The championship game is slated for Aug. 8, 5:30 p.m. An "if necessary" game would be played Aug. 9, 5:30 p.m.
Admission is $3.
Junior all-stars
The Lincoln Glen junior all-stars (13-14 age group) won the District 12 championship and a berth in the Section 5 tournament at the home of the Milpitas South Little League at the Milpitas Sports Complex.
Lincoln Glen opened section play with an 8-6 win over Gilroy, but lost 6-3 to Oakridge and 7-6 to Gilroy.
Scott Righetti tossed a complete game to get the mound win in the opener against Gilroy.
Steven Lowrey went the distance on the hill a game later, but Lincoln Glen dropped a tough 6-3 nod to Oakridge.
The locals battled from behind to overcome a five-run deficit and jump out to a 6-5 lead over Gilroy a game later, but they lost 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh.
Taylor Riese tossed six strong innings for Lincoln Glen.
Five district champions competed in the sectional tournament, including Toro of District 9, Lincoln Glen of District 12, Gilroy of District 39, Los Altos of District 44 and Oakridge of District 59.
Lincoln Glen won four straight games to claim the district title, beating Cambrian Park 7-4, Willow Glen 11-5 and Almaden twice, 6-2 and 14-11.
Members of the championship team included Righetti, Lowrey, Riese, Nathan Tom, Bryan Hewitt, Justin Johnson, Matt Dorsa, Kevin Becker, John Shaffer, Matt Preskar, Nick Grande, Austin Lundquist, Colin Frohlich and Jimmer Castigani.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
