Lincoln Glen won four straight games in the tournament last week, and another good week would get the locals a district championship.

The top two finishers in each of the two brackets of pool play were to advance to the 9-year-old division playoffs on Monday with the winners to play for the championship on June 29. Almaden North and Almaden South were tops in the South Pool, and Lincoln Glen and Cambrian were the top finishers in the North Pool.

Both Lincoln Glen and Cambrian were undefeated in their pool, but the two clubs didn't face each other in the first week of play.

Tucker Bacon led Lincoln Glen to its third straight win in tournament on June 23 over Los Gatos National 10-0 in four innings. Bacon had a great day at the plate with a single and double and two runs scored. Of course, Bacon was not alone. Cole Carnehan and Marquis Onorato both ripped two singles and crossed home plate once apiece. Jimmy Riley roped a double, while Travis Meeker, Jack O'Hara, Joe Sullivan and Adam Taylor each had a single and a run scored for Lincoln Glen.

Lincoln Glen's first win came over rival Willow Glen 12-2 on June 18 and the second came the following day 10-0 over Branham. In its most recent game on June 26, Lincoln Glen won its fourth straight 14-3 over Los Gatos American.

The other members of the Lincoln Glen all-star team include Justin Bruce, Graham Moore, Jordan Crocked and Troy Paskent.

The Willow Glen all-star team ended the tournament 2-2, losing to Lincoln Glen and Cambrian but beating both the Los Gatos teams—topping National 15-7 June 19 and American 10-0 on June 24.

Willow Glen defeated Los Gatos American 10-0 with a few big hits. Logan Carter ripped a double for Willow Glen, while Wyatt Hansen refused to stop there. Hansen roped a double and a single and scored twice in the win. Though Brendan Everton did not have a hit, he did reach base and score three times to help Willow Glen. Michael Maggipinto ripped a single and scored twice. David Merriott and Brandon Richard each had a single and a run scored on the day.

Willow Glen then dropped its final game to undefeated Cambrian 10-6 on June 26.

The rest of the Willow Glen squad included Austin Jones, Robert Baldwin-Gray, Brandon Hernandez, Mario Sabatelli, Will Wilson and Tyler Howe.

11-year-old all-stars

In other action, the District 12 11-year-old tournament got under way last weekend with a full slate of eight games at the Saratoga Little League's Congress Springs Park fields.

Action in the North Pool opened up with a tightly contested game when Willow Glen topped American 7-5.

Willow Glen was able to push across seven runs on only four hits. It was Joey Brunello, Bret Linvill, Max Levine and Dylan Nylund each ripping singles. Nylund drove in a run with his hit and Kevin Loquaci added a run-batted-in on a fielder's choice. Both Nylund and Scott Beasley displayed good speed on the base paths when they stole home for two of Willow Glen's runs.

Michael Barbieri started on the mound for Willow Glen and threw five strong innings, striking out nine. Nick Taxera came in to mop up with one inning of solid relief work.

Willow Glen played outstanding defense to keep American from taking advantage of scoring opportunities. From his catcher position, Beasley gunned down two runners attempting to steal second. On another occasion, with runners at first and third, Beasley and shortstop Joel Ramirez combined for a tricky defensive effort.

Willow Glen ran into a very strong hitting Los Gatos American team in its second game and Los Gatos won 8-0. Willow Glen only had two hits with Nylund and Ramirez stroking one each. Willow Glen had another strong defensive effort with solid performances by catcher Casey Robinson, third baseman Loquaci, left fielder Taxera and shortstop Ramirez.

It proved to be a long day for the Almaden North all-stars when they took the field against Lincoln Glen in a North Pool match-up. Lincoln Glen's trio of pitchers—Matt Schmidt, Kyle Ray, and Matt Glomb—allowed only four hits leading the way to a 11-2 Lincoln Glen win. Schmidt hurled four innings, striking out eight, giving up two hits and allowing two runs. Ray and Glomb fired one inning each and gave up one hit each.

Lincoln Glen's bats were alive and well as the locals pounded out 15 hits. Alex Behrendt, Glomb and Ryan Morfin led the way with three hits each, including a double in the gap by Glomb and a double off the fence by Morfin. Lincoln Glen put four runs on the board in the second with the key hit coming from K.C. Sullivan. They came right back with five more runs in the third. It was Jake Wilson who did the most damage when he blasted a bases-loaded high fly off the fence, just missing a grand slam and settling for a bases clearing double.

Schmidt, Andrew Casalegno, Ray, Joe Rivera and Adam Flores also got in on the hitting action, each adding a single. Kris Olugbode and Drew Bishop contributed to the win with solid defense.

Bob Scudder contributed to this story.