The Cupertino Courier

Sports

District 44 tournaments to get under way

By Mike Barnhart

School's out and summer's here, which means an exciting District 44 Little League baseball game is coming to a neighborhood park or school near you.

The major and minor division winners of District 44's 14 leagues, representing eight cities, begin single-elimination Tournament of Champions action this week. The major TOC opens June 20 and concludes June 26 at McKelvey Field in Mountain View. Minor division play begins on June 21 and ends June 27 at Purissima Field in Los Altos Hills.

Campbell, Cupertino American, Cupertino National, Tri-Cities, Serra, Los Altos-Los Altos Hills, Moreland, Mountain View, Serra, Sunnyvale Metro, Sunnyvale National, Sunnyvale Southern, Tri-Cities, Santa Clara Homestead, Santa Clara Briarwood and Santa Clara Westside will field teams in the major and minor tournaments.

The junior (ages 13-14) division TOC runs June 21-27, with the finale set for McKelvey Field. The top two senior teams square off in a one-game playoff June 28 at Santa Clara University's Schott Stadium.

District 44 all-star action begins on June 29, with double-elimination tournaments for five age groups running through mid-July. D44 champions advance to Section 5 play, where they compete against other district winners from Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties. Sectional winners move on to Northern California Divisional tournaments.

Two Section 5 events are slated for District 44 sites. Cupertino American will host the senior sectional at Miller Middle School, July 12-18, and Moreland will host the 11-year-old sectional at its west San Jose fields, July 19-23.