Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Lincoln Glen juniors win three tourney titles, but lose in fourth

By Kevin Sparrer

Even the best stories come to an end. The Lincoln Glen Little League junior division all-star team had a good run this summer, but after winning three tournament titles, the road came to an end in the fourth.

Lincoln Glen traveled to Beaverton, Ore., for the Western Regional Tournament and, after going 2-2 in pool play, advanced to the single elimination playoffs, where the local all-stars fought back with a vengeance. Ultimately, the tournament ended with Lincoln Glen falling to Oregon 10-0 on Aug. 8, but only after a nailbiter against the team from Southern California.

The semifinal round of the tournament was for bragging rights in California, and both teams came to play. At the end of 10 innings, Lincoln Glen, the Northern California team, took the win 3-2.

"We had great all-around defense," said Lincoln Glen manager Chris Glomb. "We had some good hitting and good pitching. It was a very successful run. The kids did a good job."

Kyle Ray started on the hill for Lincoln Glen and went five strong innings before Alex Behrendt came in to relieve him. Behrendt went one inning before Ryan Morfin came on to finish the game.

Morfin, who threw the final four innings, led off the bottom of the 10th with a single. With the game tied and two outs, Morfin stole second before Johnny Riley smacked a single through the right side. Morfin hustled his way around third and was able to score on a wild throw from the outfield for the win.

Lincoln Glen was only able to put together six hits in the win with Morfin and Riley accounting for two of them. Will Hein, Jake Wilson, Andrew Casalegno and Matt Glomb had the other four hits. Behrendt, Riley and Wilson each knocked in runs. Morfin scored two of the three runs and Glomb also scored.

"This was a great team effort," said the manager. "We had a lot of two out rallies. We just played some small ball."

Lincoln Glen also downed Utah 12-3 on Aug. 6. Riley and Mark Amann had two hits each in the win.

"Our bats really came alive," added Glomb. "We played 19 games in the past five weeks and we won 14 of them."

The weekend before, Lincoln Glen defeated Idaho 15-9 to make it into the playoffs on Aug. 4. Jake Wilson and K.C. Sullivan each knocked three hits against Idaho, while both Morfin and Hein had two.

Leading the offense was Glomb, hitting .431 in the tournament, while Hein was right behind him at .410. Sullivan also had a good tournament, hitting .383, and Wilson hit .375 to help Lincoln Glen score over six runs a game and boast a team average of .327.

Defensively, Ray and Riley combined for the most innings on the mound and both pitchers averaged under a 4.00 earned run average. Glomb, Behrendt, Morfin, Amann and Sullivan also had some time on the mound. The team ERA finished at 4.89.

The complete roster of the team includes Amann, Behrendt, Casalegno, Joe De Cecco, Jason De La Rocha, Glomb, Hein, Morfin, Kris Olugbode, Ray, Riley, Spencer Sauke, Sullivan and Wilson.