Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Almaden claims district title in minor TOC

By Kevin Sparrer

It was Brian Grace's bat that drove Almaden South to a title-clinching 7-2 victory over the Quito A's in the final game of the District 12 minor division Tournament of Champions played June 22 at the Willow Glen Little League field.

Grace went 3 for 3 against scored two of his club's seven runs in the win over Quito. The A's attempted to battle back in the bottom of the sixth, but Almaden held out for the 7-2 win.

Kevin Asplund also played a key role in the victory. Asplund had the duties on the mound for Alameda and threw a complete game, allowing only four hits and two runs from Quito.

The A's actually led the game 1-0 after the first inning, but Almaden fought back to tie it in the top of the second.

But the most important Almaden rally came in the top of the third when the champs scored what would become the winning runs.

Mitchell Sancier was the big hitter for Quito in the loss, going 2 for 3 with a triple and one of the two RBIs for the A's.

Almaden eliminated the Willow Glen Indians on June 17, 14-7. Whiting did it again, going 3 for 4, but it was the Indians who had the majority of hits in the game.

Jesse Martinez went 2 for 2 in the loss, while Joeseph Garcia went 2 for 3. Graham Chok, Robert Bowles, Alex Saba and Joe Goode also got hits in the loss.

Saul Leon, Carly Pritchett, Nathan Rooke and Jesus Pucurimay were other members of the Willow Glen squad.

The Almaden North Yankees didn't fare as well against Cambrian Park when they faced each other on June 20. Cambrian won the game 13-3 and only allowed four Almaden hits.

The Yankees were able to win their first game in the tournament over Lincoln Glen 4-2 on June 17.

Sunny Advani and Self both went 3 for 3. Self belted two doubles. Karr had two hits, while Nicholas Marcoccia had one hit and Giacobbe roped a double.

Despite the loss, Lincoln Glen's bats were alive with a total of seven hits in the loss.

Joe Sullivan ripped a pair of singles, Brandon Rausch hammered a double, Jordan Milligan smashed a double and Kenny Sullivan, Jayson Kadlecek and Joey Sanfilippo each had hits in the loss.

Dane Archer, David Espinola, Jake Feinman, Jon Gullett, Grant Hoffman and Ryan Vong were other members of the Lincoln Glen squad.