Sports Digest Sports Digest (June 25, 2004)

Divers win Nor-Cal titles

A Pleasanton trio dove into the Nor-Cal Championship competition June 5 and 6 at the Santa Clara International Swim Center, bringing diving titles home.

Lisa Grau, a sixth-grader at Harvest Park, placed first in both the 1 M and 3 M in the Girls 13 & Under group.

Competing in the Junior Olympic level, Tyler Pullen, a Pleasanton Middle School sixth grader, took first place in the 11 & Under for both the 1 M and the 3 M, and he finished third in both the 1 M and 3 M in the 13 & Under age group.

PMS eighth-grader Logan Resnikoff placed third in the 1 M and fourth in the 3 M in the Girls Age 14-15 division.

Rich Clemens coached all three divers.
Bronco Black Sox jostle for Burlingame Tournament Bronco division championship

The Bronco Black Sox triumphed in the semifinal games for the age 11 and 12 division held June 19-20, beating out 8-2 the top-seeded Milbrae team. Jasen Westmoreland pitched five strong innings of shutout ball, and Nate Vincent closed the game with two outstanding innings. The Black Sox exploded with six runs in the third, blowing the game open. Ryan Kochan, Jackson Zarubin, and Westmoreland all had RBI hits in the inning. Dylan Martinelli and Derek Chao had the hot gloves at third base, each making several key plays, and Austin Popelar made a beautiful catch and throw to home from left field, foiling a scoring run. The Black Sox will play El Cerrito in the title game.
First place finishers in Tri-Valley Swim League

The final score for the Tri-Valley Swim League competition June 19 pit Club Sport, 636, against Briarhill, 340. First place finishers are: Girls 6 & Under 25 SC Meter Freestyle: Copenhagen, Anna, CSP-CC, 21.78Y Girls 6 & Under 25 SC Meter Backstroke: Matsusaka, Anne, CSP-CC, 24.15Y Girls 6 & Under 25 SC Meter Breaststroke: Scrivnier, Olivia, CSP-CC, 24.86Y Girls 6 & Under 25 SC Meter Butterfly: Matsusaka, Abigail, CSP-CC, 22.08Y Girls 6 & Under 100 SC Meter Freestyle Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Skinner, Ryane 6, Matsusaka, Anne 5, Scrivnier, Olivia 6, Matsusaka, Abigail 6), 1:24.65Y Girls 6 & Under 100 SC Meter Medley Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Matsusaka, Abigail 6, Matsusaka, Anne 5, Scrivnier, Olivia 6, Skinner, Ryane 6), 1:31.14Y Girls 7-8 25 SC Meter Freestyle: Neckar, Emma, CSP-CC, 15.34Y Girls 7-8 25 SC Meter Backstroke: Neckar, Emma, CSP-CC, 18.25Y Girls 7-8 25 SC Meter Breaststroke: Horrillo, Kristin, BH, 21.26Y Girls 7-8 25 SC Meter Butterfly: Willins, Natalie, CSP-CC, 18.70Y Girls 7-8 100 SC Meter Freestyle Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Neckar, Emma 8, Copenhagen, Kylie 8, Willins, Jessica 8, Neckar, Hannah 8), 1:05.11Y Girls 7-8 100 SC Meter Medley Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Willins, Natalie 8, Willins, Jessica 8, Neckar, Hannah 8, Neckar, Emma 8), 1:12.19Y Girls 9-10 50 SC Meter Freestyle: Bergh, Marissa, B H, 26.16Y Girls 9-10 25 SC Meter Backstroke: Martin, Bernadine, CSP-CC, 16.71Y Girls 9-10 25 SC Meter Breaststroke: Jetter, Cayla, CSP-CC, 16.93Y Girls 9-10 25 SC Meter Butterfly: Bergh, Marissa, BH, 13.08Y Girls 9- 10 100 SC Meter IM: Bergh, Marissa, BH, 1:13.84Y Girls 9-10 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Morrison, Makenzi 10, Powers, Nicole 9, Miller, Kayla 10, Taylor, Jackie 9), 1:59.00Y Girls 9-10 100 SC Meter Medley Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Taylor, Jackie 9, Martin, Bernadine 9, Jetter, Cayla 9, Morrison, Makenzi 10), 59.12Y Girls 11-12 50 SC Meter Freestyle: Schmitz, Hannah, CSP-CC, 23.71Y Girls 11-12 50 SC Meter Backstroke: Alvari, Danielle, CSP-CC, 28.23Y Girls 11-12 50 SC Meter Breaststroke: Alvari, Danielle, CSP-CC, 30.99Y Girls 11-12 50 SC Meter Butterfly: Schmitz, Hannah, CSP-CC, 28.25Y Girls 11- 12 100 SC Meter IM: Alvari, Danielle, CSP-CC, 1:01.99Y Girls 11-12 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Robertson, Paige 12, Polon, Casey 12, Barrett, Megan 12, Miller, Rachel 11), 1:42.69Y Girls 11-12 2 00 SC Meter Medley Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Schmitz, Hannah 1- Alvari, Danielle 12, Hernbroth, Alison 1- Robertson, Paige 12), 1:50.32Y Girls 13-14 50 SC Meter Freestyle: Louie, Christina, CSP-CC, 22.48Y Girls 13-14 50 SC Meter Backstroke: Krause, Ashley, BH, 26.12Y Girls 13-14 50 SC Meter Breaststroke: McMurdie, Whitney, BH, 30.20Y Girls 13-14 50 SC Meter Butterfly: Louie, Christina, CSP-CC, 24.35Y Girls 13 -14 100 SC Meter IM: Krause, Ashley, BH, 59.65Y Girls 13-14 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Peterson, Sarah 14, Robertson, Tayler 13, Neves, Lauren 14, Gilliam, Kelsey 13), 1:41.67Y Girls 13-14 200 SC Meter Medley Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Louie, Christina 14, Suchland, Sammie 14, Gilliam, Kelsey 13, Neves, Lauren 14), 1:47.50Y Women 15-18 50 SC Meter Freestyle: Capece, Ashley, CSP-CC, 22.25Y Women 15- 18 50 SC Meter Backstroke: Barberio-Kitts, Ashley, CSP-CC, 29.44Y Women 15-18 50 SC Meter Breaststroke: Capece, Ahsley, CSP-CC, 28.50Y Women 15-18 50 SC Meter Butterfly: Pahl, Lauren, BH, 24.62Y Women 15-18 100 SC Meter IM: Capece, Ahsley, CSP-CC, 55.14Y Women 15-18 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Barberio-Kitts, Ashley 17, Desprez, Kaylin 16, Stuart, Brittany 15, Stuart, Lauren 15), 1:38.14Y Women 15-18 200 SC Meter Medley Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Barberio-Kitts, Ashley 17, Stuart, Brittany 15, Desprez, Kaylin 16, Capece, Ahsley 15), 1:47.06Y Boys 6 & Under 25 SC Meter Freestyle: Wooldridge, Ben, CSP-CC , 18.31Y Boys 6 & Under 25 SC Meter Backstroke: Clark, Nicholas, CSP-CC, 31.25Y Boys 6 & Under 25 SC Meter Breaststroke: Wooldridge, Ben, CSP-CC, 27.98Y Boys 6 & Under 25 SC Meter Butterfly: Clark, Nicholas, CSP-CC, 23.22Y Boys 7-8 25 SC Meter Freestyle: Guerra, Bobby, BH, 16.09Y Boys 7-8 25 SC Meter Backstroke: Chaparro, Austin, BH, 21.20Y Boys 7-8 25 SC Meter Breaststroke: Gold, Brendan, CSP-CC, 20.70Y Boys 7-8 25 SC Meter Butterfly: Guerra, Bobby, BH, 19.07Y Boys 9-10 50 SC Meter Freestyle: Reyes, Nathan, CSP-CC, 27.54Y Boys 9-10 25 SC Meter Backstroke: Reyes, Nathan, CSP-CC, 16.25Y Boys 9-10 25 SC Meter Breaststroke: Cheney, James, CSP-CC, 18.65Y Boys 9-10 25 SC Meter Butterfly: Cretney, Nolan, CSP-CC, 15.33Y Boys 9-10 100 SC Meter IM: Standart, Kevin, BH, 1:15.96Y Boys 11-12 50 SC Meter Freestyle: Harpster, Dennis, CSP-C C, 24.89Y Boys 11-12 50 SC Meter Backstroke: Suchland, Kyle, CSP-CC, 32.15Y Boys 11-12 50 SC Meter Breaststroke: Morrison, Parker, CSP-CC, 32.77Y Boys 11-12 50 SC Meter Butterfly: Fiegel, Timmy, CSP-CC, 31.16Y Boys 11-12 100 SC Meter IM: Harpster, Dennis, CSP-CC, 1:07.30Y Boys 13-14 50 SC Meter Freestyle: Hohl, PJ, CSP-CC, 22.54Y Boys 13-14 50 SC Meter Backstroke: Capece, Mitchell, CSP-CC, 27.48Y Boys 13-14 50 SC Meter Breaststroke: Capece, Mitchell, CSP-CC, 29.34Y Boys 13-14 50 SC Meter Butterfly: Hohl, PJ, CSP-CC, 24.04Y Boys 13-14 100 SC Meter IM: Cheney, Joseph, CSP-CC, 1:02.47Y Men 15-18 50 SC Meter Freestyle: Ambrose, Kevin, CSP-CC, 19.94Y Men 15-18 50 SC Meter Backstroke: Sollom-Brotherton, Noel, BH, 21.61Y Men 15-18 50 SC Meter Breaststroke: Sollom-Brotherton, Noel, BH, 24.79Y Men 15-18 50 SC Meter Butterfly: Ambrose, Kevin, CSP-C C, 29.45Y Men 15-18 100 SC Meter IM: Sollom-Brotherton, Noel, BH, 45.97Y Mixed 6 & Under 100 SC Meter Freestyle Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Ray, David 6, Gee, Sammy 6, Martin, Michale 5, Ernst, Tony 6), 2:10.9 3Y Mixed 6 & Under 100 SC Meter Medley Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Clark, Nicholas 5, Ray, David 6, Wooldridge, Ben 4, Martin, Michale 5), 1:54.72Y Mixed 7-8 100 SC Meter Freestyle Relay: Briarhill Swim Team 'A' (Melloch, Cole 7, Malek, Christopher 7, Guerra, Bobby 7, Glynn, Aidan 7), 1:16.42Y Mixed 7-8 100 SC Meter Medley Relay: Briarhill Swim Team 'A' (Malek, Christopher 7, Senna, Jack 8, Guerra, Bobby 7, Glynn, Aidan 7), 1:26.15Y Mixed 9-10 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Cretney, Nolan 9, Spott, Tanner 9, Ernst, Andrew 10, Cheney, James 10), 2:09.45Y Mixed 9-10 100 SC Meter Medley Relay: Club S port Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Desprez, Louis 9, Reyes, Nathan 10, Cheney, James 10, Cretney, Nolan 9), 1:07.82Y Mixed 11-12 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Morrison, Parker 12, Toschi, Garrett 12, Suchl and, Kyle 1- Hohl, Cody 12), 1:45.22Y Mixed 11-12 200 SC Meter Medley Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Hohl, Cody 12, Suchland, Kyle 1- Morrison, Parker 12, Harpster, Andrew 12), 1:56.14Y Mixed 13-14 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Barrett, Bobby 14, Capece, Mitchell 13, Desprez, Jonathan 14, Hohl, PJ 14), 1:31.22Y Mixed 13-14 200 SC Meter Medley Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Hohl, PJ 14, Cheney, Joseph 14, Capece, Mitchell 13, Barrett, Bobby 14), 1:45.26Y Mixed 15-18 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Harechmak, JT 16, Cheney, Philip 16, Gee, Scott 16, Ambrose, Kevin 15), 1:39.61Y Mix ed 15-18 200 SC Meter Medley Relay: Club Sport Pleasanton-CC 'A' (Ambrose, Kevin 15, DeStein, Ben 15, Harechmak, JT 16, Gee, Scott 16), 1:34.09Y

The Del Prado Stingrays opened the 2004 Tri-Valley Swim League season with a victory over the Fast Dolphins, 667 to 272Top performers for the dolphins were Lindsay Gardinier, Lauren Bateman, Kyle Brierly, and Sam Wagner. Top performers for the Stingrays were Jaclyn Strom, Caitlin Guidoux, Christopher Nespor and Jason Bantz. First place scores are: Girls 7-8 100 Yard Medley Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Christman, Caroline 8, Bantz, Megan 7, Fowler-Kimsey, Hannah 8, Drury, Eileen 8), 1:34.11 Girls 9-10 100 Yard Medley Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Cohen, Sara 9, Strom, Jaclyn 10, Klein, Laura 9, DeWilde, Lindsey 9), 1:16.35 Girls 11-12 200 Yard Medley Relay: Fast Dolphins-PC 'A' (Florian, Katie 11, Keiner, Cathrine 11, Nolan, Sara 12, Fetherston, Alexandra 11), 2:50.18 Girls 13-14 200 Yard Medley Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Kurotori, Kimberly 14, Nespor, Amanda 14, Peterson, Taylor 14, Boughton, Kari 13), 2:11.79 Women 15-18 200 Yard Medley Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Kruger, Katie 15, Strom, Julianne 16, Pesicka, Emily 15, Guidoux, Caitlin 15), 2:10.57 Girls 7-8 25 Yard Freestyle: Drury, Eileen, DP-CA, 17.06 Girls 9-10 50 Yard Freestyle: Doi, Stephanie, DP-CA, 34.35 Girls 11-12 50 Yard Freestyle: Doi, Niki, DP-CA, 30.09 Girls 13-14 50 Yard Freestyle: Gaudinier, Lindsay, FAST-PC, 27.06 Women 15-18 50 Yard Freestyle: Gaudinier, Allison, FAST-PC, 28.97 Girls 7-8 25 Yard Butterfly: Drury, Eileen, DP-CA, 23.97 Girls 9-10 25 Yard Butterfly: Strom, Jaclyn, DP-CA, 17.93 Girls 11-12 50 Yard Butterfly: Court, Sara, DP-CA, 34.39 Girls 13-14 50 Yard Butterfly: Gaudinier, Lindsay, FAST-PC, 30.48 Women 15-18 50 Yard Butterfly: Guidoux, Caitlin, DP-CA, 31.87 Girls 7-8 25 Yard Breaststroke: Bantz, Megan, DP-CA, 27.40 Girls 9-10 25 Yard Breaststroke: Strom, Jaclyn, DP-CA, 20.75 Girls 11-12 50 Yard Breaststroke: Blandino, Jillian, DP-CA, 40.21 Girls 13-14 50 Yard Breaststroke: Nespor, Amanda, DP-CA, 35.65 Women 15-18 50 Yard Breaststroke: Guidoux, Caitlin, DP-CA, 35.34 Girls 9-10 100 Yard IM: Strom, Jaclyn, DP-CA, 1:32.53 Girls 11-12 100 Yard IM: Court, Sara, DP-CA, 1:17.78 Girls 13-14 100 Yard IM: Gardinier, Lindsay, FAST-PC, 1:10.17 Women 15-18 100 Yard IM: Guidoux, Caitlin, DP-CA, 1:11.14 Girls 7-8 25 Yard Backstroke: Christman, Caroline, DP-CA, 23.58 Girls 9-10 25 Yard Backstroke: Wagner, Audrey, FAST-PC, 21.10 Girls 11-12 50 Yard Backstroke: Christensen, Chelsey, DP-CA, 41.02 Girls 13-14 50 Yard Backstroke: Kurotori, Kimberly, DP-CA, 34.76 Women 15-18 50 Yard Backstroke: Pesicka, Emily, DP-CA, 36.72 Girls 7-8 100 Yard Freestyle Relay: Fast Dolphins-PC 'C' (Berrigan, Kate 7, Florian, Vicky 7, Lukas, Haley 8, Amos, Julia 7), 1:31.06 Girls 9-10 200 Yard Freestyle Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Cohen, Sara 9, Gates, Elaina 9, Klein, Laura 9, Doi, Stephanie 9), 2:31.27 Girls 11-12 200 Yard Freestyle Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Bantz, Victoria 11, Doi, Niki 12, Court, Sara 11, Blandino, Jillian 12), 2:07.82 Girls 13-14 200 Yard Freestyle Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Walker, Dannica 14, Schabacker, Laura 14, Schabacker, Sarah 14, Peterson, Taylor 14), 1:58.74 Women 15-18 200 Yard Freestyle Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Honegger, Nicole 16, Clopp, Lindsey 15, Mellberg, Caitlin 16, Hong, Kristin 15), 2:07.17. Boys 7-8 100 Yard Medley Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Goard, Andrew 8, Crispell, Kevin 8, Kurotori, Cameron 8, Groat, Patrick 8), 1:35.74 Boys 9-10 100 Yard Medley Relay: Fast Dolphins-PC 'A' (Bormann, Brett 10, Curtis, George 9, Harris, Warren 9, Kuo, Jonathan 10), 1:36.41 Boys 11-12 200 Yard Medley Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Payan, Jack 12, Hall, Stefan 11, Blandino, Geremy 11, Bahls, Jake 12), 2:34.19 Boys 13-14 200 Yard Medley Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Lindley, Sam T 14, Strom, John 14, Bantz, Jason 14, Payan, Cole 14), 2:09.10 Men 15-18 200 Yard Medley Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Bucchianeri, Peter 17, Peterson, Ryan 17, Cooper, Joey 17, Salem, Kyle 16), 1:59.76 Boys 7-8 25 Yard Freestyle: Kurotori, Cameron, DP-CA, 18.36 Boys 9-10 50 Yard Freestyle: Kuo, Jonathan, FAST-PC, 38.65 Boys 11-12 50 Yard Freestyle: Payan, Jack, DP-CA, 29.79 Boys 13-14 50 Yard Freestyle: Bantz, Jason, DP-CA, 27.46 Men 15-18 50 Yard Freestyle: Peterson, Ryan, DP-CA, 23.75 Boys 7-8 25 Yard Butterfly: Bateman, William, FAST-PC, 24.54 Boys 9-10 25 Yard Butterfly: Harris, Warren, FAST-PC, 22.66 Boys 11-12 50 Yard Butterfly: Bahls, Jake, DP-CA, 35.20 Boys 13-14 50 Yard Butterfly: Bantz, Jason, DP-CA, 31.99 Men 15-18 50 Yard Butterfly: Brierley, Kyle, FAST-PC, 27.90 Boys 7-8 25 Yard Breaststroke: Wagner, Sam, FAST-PC, 29.53 Boys 9-10 25 Yard Breaststroke: Nespor, Christopher, DP-CA, 18.05 Boys 11-12 50 Yard Breaststroke: Beliles, Ryan, DP-CA, 49.07 Boys 13-14 50 Yard Breaststroke: Strom, John, DP-CA, 35.22 Men 15-18 50 Yard Breaststroke: Peterson, Ryan, DP-CA, 32.34 Boys 9-10 100 Yard IM: Nespor, Christopher, DP-CA, 1:27.11 Boys 11-12 100 Yard IM: Bahls, Jake, DP-CA, 1:20.84 Boys 13-14 100 Yard IM: Bantz, Jason, DP-CA, 1:14.72 Men 15-18 100 Yard IM: Peterson, Ryan, DP-CA, 1:03.45 Boys 7-8 25 Yard Backstroke: Goard, Andrew, DP-CA, 22.68 Boys 9-10 25 Yard Backstroke: Nespor, Christopher, DP-CA, 20.35 Boys 11-12 50 Yard Backstroke: Payan, Jack, DP-CA, 38.70 Boys 13-14 50 Yard Backstroke: Correia, Sam, FAST-PC, 36.21 Men 15-18 50 Yard Backstroke: Compton, Jeff, DP-CA, 30.84 Boys 7-8 100 Yard Freestyle Relay: Fast Dolphins-PC 'A' (Fetherston, Joey 7, Wagner, Sam 8, Sciammas, Eli 8, Liebman, Jeffrey 8), 1:40.26 Boys 9-10 200 Yard Freestyle Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Lindley, Joey 9, Bunn, Brody 9, Crispell, Eric 9, Nespor, Christopher 10), 3:00.86 Boys 11-12 200 Yard Freestyle Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Lindley, Ben 12, Davis, Taylor 12, Beliles, Ryan 11, Drury, Colin 11), 2:41.42 Boys 13-14 200 Yard Freestyle Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Lindley, Sam T 14, Proctor, Nate 14, Landas, Trevor 13, Payan, Cole 14), 1:56.19 Men 15-18 200 Yard Freestyle Relay: Del Prado Stingrays-CA 'A' (Bucchianeri, Peter 17, Compton, Jeff 15, Salem, Kyle 16, Cooper, Joey 17), 1:43.31
Rockies come alive for Father's Day weekend

Colt The Rockies won two games on June 19, defeating the Orinda Oaks 5-0, and the Acalanes Dons 4-2 in the Colt Division ages 15-16. Chris Hillman pitched a complete shutout game against the Oaks, striking out 12, walking none and allowing only two hits. Tommy Gale pitched a complete game against the Dons, striking out seven, walking two and allowing four hits.

Gale led the offensive effort in both games, going five for eight, with two doubles, three runs, an RBI and four stolen bases. Tyler Shotwell had a break-out day, going three for five with a walk, a run, a double and an RBI. Dakota Laufenberg was three for five with two RBIs. Ryan Lysaght was two for six, with a run, an RBI and a stolen base. Eric Hong was one for four, with a run and an RBI. Hillman went two for seven, with two runs, two RBIs, and two stolen bases, and David Zetterlund had a hit and scored a run.
Pleasanton Pony Red Sox win playoff game against Martinez Bad Boys

The Pleasanton Pony Red Sox, 13-14-year-old division, continued their winning ways June 20, beating the Martinez Bad Boys by a final score of 4-3. A.J. Funk started for the Red Sox, going four innings and allowing Martinez just one run on four hits. Robbie LeClair pitched two and a third inning, giving up just one hit, but allowing two runs, after walking the bases full in the top of the seventh. Christian Ruge came in to get the save, getting the final two outs of the seventh inning, while allowing only one hit.

Sam Dierking scored twice for the Red Sox, reaching on an error as he lead off in the first inning, advancing to second on a single to left by Drew Helenihi, and then to third when Ruge was hit by a pitch. Dierking then came home on a wild pitch by Martinez.

The Red Sox added two more runs in the bottom of the third: A.J. Funk reached on a fielder's choice and was advanced to third on a single to right by Dierking. Drew Helenihi, who went 3 for 3 on the day, then knocked in Funk with a single to center. In the same play the Martinez catcher, after taking a late throw from the center fielder, threw the ball away trying to catch Dierking off the bag at third, and Dierking was able to score the third run for the Red Sox on the error.

The Sox got their final, and winning run, in the bottom of the sixth when Paul Davis, who reached on a single to center and advanced on an error by the center in handling the ball, was able to score when the Martinez third baseman threw the ball past the first baseman on a ground ball hit by Jonathan Sa.
Pony Red Sox traveling team snags championship title

In exciting game play, the Pleasanton Red Sox Traveling Team won the Championship of the Valley View League Pony Division June 19, beating the Pleasant Hill Oaks by a score of 10 to 8 at the Pleasanton Sports Park. Pleasanton put the icing on the cake of their perfect season going undefeated in regular season play (24-0) and winning their two playoff games, beating Martinez 4-3 and finishing up against Pleasant Hill 10-8.

Robbie LeClair started for the Red Sox, going four and two-thirds innings and giving up three runs on four hits, with eight strikeouts and six walks. The three runs that Pleasant Hill scored against LeClair all came in the top of the fifth inning, after the Red Sox had taken a 3-0 lead with a run in the first and two in the second.

After a ground out and a strike out to start the top of the fifth, LeClair walked the third and fourth Oaks batters. Pleasant Hill's starting pitcher Tyler Schaeffer then grounded out to short, driving in Pleasant Hill's first run. Then came four singles by Pleasant Hill batters, and two more runs scored, tying up the game, before relief pitcher A.J. Funk came in to strike out the ninth Pleasant Hill batter of the inning.

The Red Sox lost no time in coming back in the bottom of the fifth, as the first five hitters all reached and scored. Drew Helenihi started things off with an infield hit to short, and he was followed by Christian Ruge, who also got an infield hit to short.

After a passed ball moved the runners up, LeClair then brought Helenihi in with a grounder to third. The third baseman's throw to the plate was too high, and all runners were safe. Dan Morphis kept things going with an RBI single to left, knocking in Ruge.

At that point, Pleasant Hill changed pitchers, but Jonathan Sa hit a grounder back to the pitcher, who wheeled and tried to get LeClair on a force at third, but his throw sailed over the third baseman's head, and LeClair was able to score.

Pleasant Hill's reliever Andy Garcia then was able to get the second out of the inning on a strike out, but also threw two wild pitches and Pleasanton's Morphis and Sa both scored. After Pleasant Hill two outs on strikeouts, Funk was able to work a walk, and took second on a wild pitch to Sam Dierking. Dierking drove in Funk with another single to short, and got to third on another wild pitch and a stolen base, before Helenihi, who started the inning, drove in Dierking with a single to tight for the seventh run to score for Pleasanton in the inning.

Pleasant Hill, who had played Pleasanton tough in each of their three previous games, came back with two runs in the top of the sixth and added three more in the top of the ninth off of Pleasanton's Ruge after loading the bases on a single to right, a walk, a hit batsman and another walk.

Ruge got the fifth batter to fly out to center although the fly ball was long enough to score their second run of the inning. Another single by the sixth batter scored their third run, bringing Pleasant Hill to within two runs, with only one out and runners at second and third. However, Ruge was able to get the second out on a pop-up and finished the game with a fly ball to right, preserving the win.

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