Sports LITTLE LEAGUE
Palo Alto all-stars taking different paths by James Huber t’s one game down and a lot more to go for the Palo Alto National 11-12 all-stars in the District 52 Little League Tournament at Palo Alto’s Middlefield Ballpark. For Palo Alto American, it’s two games down and potentially even more to go as the team battles its way through the consolation bracket. Palo Alto American took advantage of a barrage of wild pitches, passed balls, walks and errors to defeat Redwood City American, 9-4, on Wednesday night at Middlefield Ballpark in the consolation bracket of the double-elimination tourney. PA American’s starting pitcher Amit Rao came around to score in the first inning with the help of two passed balls and a wild pitch after hitting a leadoff single to start the game. In the next inning, PA American tacked on two more runs with a little more help from Redwood City American’s sloppy play. Xavi Loinaz walked and Matt Knowles was hit by a pitch to start off the inning. Loinaz scored on a wild pitch and Knowles was driven in by an RBI single from Rao. “We’re generally pretty aggressive on the base paths,� said Palo Alto American manager Joe Adams, whose team had three stolen bases. “I wish our hitting had come around, but we took advantage of the opportunities in front of us.� Palo Alto was able to score four runs in the fifth with a two-out rally. Rao and Jake Rittman both reached base on errors by Redwood City’s
infielders and were brought home by shortstop Jason Huang’s RBI single. PA American added on two more runs the next inning despite not recording a hit. P.J. Wisowaty and Steven Marinkovich scored on the same play when the ball got by the catcher and the throw home was mishandled by Redwood City’s pitcher. Palo Alto American also got strong pitching efforts from Rao (the winner), Sam Feldman and Rittman. PA American pitchers each struck out four hitters, with all of Rittman’s outs coming on strikeouts, and only allowed two earned runs on the night. “This was Amit’s first game pitching in the tournament,� said Adams. “He did everything the coaches asked for tonight. Amit threw strikes and located the fastball on the outside corner.� In the fourth inning, Rao also made a nice play in right field to end a Redwood City rally. Redwood City appeared to score its second run of the inning when Roberto Alarcon singled, which would have scored Adrian Lopez from second base, but Rao gunned down Alarcon at first base with a strong throw from right field. Palo Alto also rebounded nicely after allowing a deep solo home run to Adrian Villa in the first inning, fanning him three times afterward. “We just went right after him with fastballs after the home run,� Adams said. Palo Alto American next plays the loser of the game between San
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Larson was left stranded as Aguiar was unable to come up with the clutch hit. Stranding runners in scoring position proved to be Menlo Chevron’s fatal flaw on Wednesday. Menlo Chevron left a runner in scoring position in every inning but the fourth, when Jacob Hoffman was doubled up at second on a line drive by Leo McCabe. Over the two games, Menlo Chevron stranded 11 runners in scoring position. Ramkumar delivered what proved to be the winning run in the 8-7 decision, doubling in Jack Cleasby in the top of the sixth. Until the fifth inning, B&B had been stymied by Kannappan, Menlo Chevron’s starter, who managed to scatter eight hits in the first four innings so that B&B only plated two runs. Finally in the fifth, B&B managed to cash in on its opportunities. “We had a lot of clutch hitting,� Farr said. Shadmon finished the two game 5-for-8 with five RBI. Beeson nearly matched him, driving in four runs on 2-of-5 hitting. “Our bats really came alive,� Ramkumar said. “We were really going after the pitchers.� N
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“They didn’t pitch me very well,� Shadmon said. “Then, finally, I got a good pitch to hit, and I just drove it.� Though Menlo Chevron attempted a rally in the seventh inning, scoring three times, the deficit was simply too vast as Rylan Pade closed out the seventh inning with solid relief. It took quite a comeback for B&B to even play for the title as it had to overcome a four-run first inning by Menlo Chevron in the initial game on Wednesday. “It wasn’t looking too good,� Farr said. “We made a couple of bad plays. It turned around pretty good.� Even after a five-run fifth inning gave B&B its first lead of the game, Menlo Chevron came within 90 feet of forcing extra innings. After Brian Kannappan led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and Robert Larson followed with walk, the two advanced to third and second, respectively, with just one out. Kannappan scored on a groundout by Lawrence Han but
Jim Shorin
Palo Alto National 11-12s advance in winners’ bracket while Palo Alto American battles through consolation bracket
Palo Alto National’s Ben Cleasby (third from right) is greeted by his teammates as he jumps on home plate to finish off a three-run homer during a 7-1 victory over Palo Alto American on Sunday in a District 52 all-star game. Carlos American and Belmont/ Redwood Shores at Middlefield on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Palo Alto National also will play Saturday, taking on San Carlos National at 10 a.m. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Palo Alto National began its defense of last year’s District 52 tournament title as 10-11 year olds with a 7-1 victory over rival Palo Alto American on Sunday evening. PA National scored six times in the fifth inning to put away a pesky American squad that had kept National’s hitters off balance for most of the game. National used some small ball and dominant pitching to earn its first victory. Relief pitcher Justin Hull drew a bases-loaded walk to put National ahead 2-1 after American had tied
the game earlier in the inning behind Jason Huang’s RBI single. Hull’s walk was then followed by a swinging bunt single by catcher Alec Olmstead, which plated two runs when the ball got by the catcher. Earlier in the game, National scored its first run despite not recording a single hit during the inning. Brian Tracy scored on a fielder’s-choice groundout to the third baseman after starting the inning off with a walk and advancing on a sacrifice bunt and error. Left fielder Ben Cleasby then rounded off the scoring with a threerun homer to straight-away center field. “Cleasby had two great at-bats,� Palo Alto National manager Alex Byer said. Byer also praised the work of the team’s pitchers, Riley Schoeben and Hull.
“They’re the hard throwers,� Byer said. “Schoeben and Justin Hull are a pretty good combination. Riley’s just developed a changeup and Justin has a really good curveball.� Schoeben and Hull overpowered Palo Alto American, combining for 12 strikeouts on the day. Playing against players he knew from Palo Alto Little League didn’t stop Hull from coldly dispatching American’s hitters to close out the game. In other weekend openers, Half Moon Bay beat Menlo-Atherton 7-3 and Alpine/West Menlo defeated San Mateo National 13-8. Alpine will face Half Moon Bay on Friday at 5 p.m. in the winners’ bracket. That winner also will advance to the quarterfinals on Tuesday, facing the San Carlos American-Belmont/Redwood Shores winner at 5 p.m. N
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