Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Good pitching can't beat Quito's hitting

By Kevin Sparrer

They say that good pitching beats good hitting, but not when the batter is Dominic Zucca of the Quito Little League.

Zucca refused to get out on July 13 when Quito battled Willow Glen in the District 12 major division all-star tournament held at the Union field. Zucca stepped up to the plate four times, ripped three hits including a double, and was walked once. Zucca also drove in a run and scored three times in Quito's 9-6 win.

The lead was extremely fragile early on in the game with Quito leading 4-0 after two innings, but Willow Glen fought back to score four runs in the top of the third to tie the game. Quito wouldn't stay dormant, however, and rallied for another five runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Zucca led off the inning with a line drive single to left before the second batter struck out. With one out, Ryan Hoeger singled up the middle, leaving runners at first and second. Both advanced on a wild pitch before Luke Ferguson grounded out to short, driving home Zucca with Hoeger going to third.

Joe Nieto, Ryan Saul and Michael Lima each walked to push Hoeger home. With the bases still loaded, Arjay Parhar singled down the third base line to score Nieto, then Yamato Villasenor singled to right to knock in Saul. Zucca walked to score Lima before Willow Glen was able to get the last out of the inning.

Hoeger was the other big bat for Quito, knocking a pair of singles and scoring a run. Ferguson doubled and drove in one; Lima and Jacob Sisneros each singled, had RBIs and scored; Villasenor and Parhar each singled and drove in runs; and Nikhil Patel, Saul and Nieto each singled and scored.

For Willow Glen, Brandon Hernandez had the big bat, knocking a big fly, driving in three runs and scoring once. Tyler Howe doubled and drove in two, Brendan Everton doubled and scored twice, Brandon Richard and Bret Bigger each singled and scored, Logan Carter had a hit and Wyatt Hansen scored.

The big inning for Willow Glen came in the top of the third when, with one out, Hansen reached on an error. He went to second on a wild pitch before Richard smacked a single up the middle. With runners at the corners, Bigger hit a grounder to short that scored Hansen and left everyone safe on an error. An out later, Everton walked to load the bases, and Hernandez drew a walk to score Richard. Howe blasted a double over the Quito right fielder's head to score two runs. With runners at second and third, the Quito pitcher got the next batter to fly out to center to end the inning.

The loss brought Willow Glen to 1-2 after falling to Almaden South 10-2 on July 9 and defeating Los Gatos American 7-4 on July 7.

The rest of the Willow Glen team includes Michael Maggipinto, Robert Baldwin-Gray, David Merriott, Wyatt Hansen, Logan Carter, Dakota Bramer and Chase Enzweiler.

The semifinal round of the tournament was to be held on July 16, with the top teams from each pool facing the No. 2 teams from the opposing pool. The winners of the two games were to meet on July 17 at the Union Little League field to see which team will advance to the next tournament.

The Lincoln Glen major division all-stars lost first game of the tournament 1-0 to Union on July 7, but battled back to beat San Jose American 7-5 on July 10 and Los Gatos National 12-0 on July 12.

11-year-olds

It should be a rule that a tournament championship game has to be close and go right down to the last out.

Well, if it were a rule, then the Saratoga Little League 11-year-old all-star team abided by it.

Saratoga battled Almaden North for the District 12 title and led the entire game before Almaden made a valiant effort in the bottom of the last inning. With the tying run on third and two outs, K.J. Carta Samuels struck out the last batter of the game to help Saratoga win the championship 4-3 on July 10.

Prior to facing Almaden, Saratoga downed Los Gatos National 10-8 on July 9. On July 7, Saratoga defeated Quito 13-2 in the final game of pool play.

Almaden North also played in the semi-final round on July 9 against Cambrian Park and came away with the victory 4-2. For Cambrian Park, Blake Bellinger and Austin Vierra each knocked a pair of hits, and Tyler Deason blasted a homer. Matt McAndrews, John Gaven, Billy Kauffman and Victor Rojas each had a hit in the loss.

In the final game of pool play, Almaden defeated San Jose American 16-0.

Los Gatos American defeated Lincoln Glen 11-4 on July 7 in the last round of pool play. For Lincoln Glen it was Tyler Bindi who led the offense with a pair of singles and a run scored. David Gutierrez doubled and scored, Kenny Olugbode singled and scored twice, Joe Costignani doubled and Shaun McKenney knocked a single.

Almaden South won 8-7 over Willow Glen in the last round of pool play. Willow Glen's Ryan Ensor led the effort with three singles and three runs scored. Though it was Ensor who had the most hits, Rusy Zeiss had the biggest. Zeiss blasted a home run and a double in his two hits. William Wilson also knocked one over the fence, as well as knocking a single and scoring twice. Casey Anderson singled twice and scored and both Corey Byler and Robert Bowles singled in the loss.

Cambrian Park's last game in pool play was a win over Branham Hills 11-2. Zac Lovett was a homer short of hitting for the cycle with a single, double and triple and he also scored a run. Tyler Deason and Conor Ridley each singled, doubled and scored, Riley Wilcox sent one over the fence for a homer, Blake Billinger doubled and scored, Jake Smith doubled, Matt McAndrews singled and scored, Joey Pecoraro singled, John Gaven scored two runs and Billy Kauffman, Victor Rojas and Austen Vierra scored.

10-year-olds

Coming from behind can test any athlete's composure, but the Saratoga Little League 10-year-old all-star team proved it could be cool under pressure.

Saratoga fell behind early to Almaden North in the District 12 championship game on July 11 at the Los Gatos Little League field, but came back to take the title with a 9-6 win.

Almaden grabbed an early 3-0 lead in the first, but Saratoga battled back to score four and steal the lead in the bottom of the second. 'Toga then held Almaden and added two more runs in the bottom of the third. Almaden made another attempt in the top of the fourth, scoring two runs, but Saratoga extended its lead with another run in the bottom of the inning.

In the top of the fifth, Almaden brought it within one, scoring a pair of runs, but again Saratoga answered back with two in the bottom of the fifth and held on to claim the championship.

The big hitter of the day for Saratoga was Joey Medeiros, who ripped three hits, including a pair of doubles.

The championship was Saratoga's third in only two weeks. It began by winning the 9-year-old all-star tournament that concluded on July 3. Then the Saratoga 11-year-old all-stars won the same tournament on July 10 before the 10-year-old all-stars conquered the competition on July 11.

The semifinal round of the 10-year-old tournament pitted 'Toga against Lincoln Glen, who they defeated 20-6 on July 9. Again it was Medeiros who led the offense for Saratoga, scoring three runs on three hits.

For Lincoln Glen, it was Nick Bellafronto who generated the most offense with a single, a double and two runs scored. Right there with him was Jacob Holder, who had a single and a double. Kenny Sullivan doubled and scored, Jake Feinman and Jordan Milligan both singled and scored, and David DeLaRocha scored in the loss.

The rest of the Lincoln Glen team consists of Nick Lion, Joey Cahn, Alex Alvarado, Matt Oliverio and Nick Dotzler.

Saratoga completed the tournament undefeated, including the four games in pool play. In pool play, Saratoga downed Los Gatos American 9-5, defeated Cambrian Park 10-0, won 14-0 over Quito and beat Los Gatos National 12-7.

Almaden North was looking promising entering the championship game of the tournament, having defeated every team it had faced up until that game by at least 10 runs and scoring at least 14 runs in each game.

In the semifinal round of the tournament on July 9, Almaden topped Branham Hills 14-4.

In pool play, Almaden defeated Los Gatos National 17-3, downed Quito 14-2, won over Cambrian Park 15-1 and 10-runned Los Gatos American 16-6.

On the final day of pool play on July 7, Cambrian Park defeated Quito 13-2, Lincoln Glen won over Willow Glen 9-6, Branham Hills took one from San Jose American 9-8 and Almaden North won against Union 13-11.

Branham Hills defeated Almaden North 10-7 on July 6, and Lincoln Glen won over San Jose American 7-6 on July 5. On July 3, Los Gatos American defeated its counterpart Los Gatos National 9-6, and Willow Glen fell to Union 5-4. Almaden North defeated San Jose American 7-4 on July 2.

All 12 teams played on June 30 with the following results: Branham Hills defeated Lincoln Glen 6-1, Union downed San Jose American 9-5, Willow Glen won over Almaden North 8-5 and Cambrian Park won over Los Gatos National 10-7.

The first few games of the tournament saw Lincoln Glen take one over Union 16-6, Branham Hills beat Willow Glen 5-2 and Quito top Los Gatos American 20-7.