Wall, Sullivan wear out Little League opponents

By Dick Sparrer

Jack Wall of the Cardinals was wearing out opposing pitchers last week... Danny Sullivan of the A's was wearing out opposing hitters.

And because of it, both the Cards and A's came through with impressive victories in the major division of the Los Gatos Little League.

Wall was 8-for-11, including a couple of 3-for-3 performances, to lead the Cardinals to wins in two of three games in the division last week.

Sullivan, meanwhile, was tossing nine strong innings to lead his club to wins as the A's won three of four.

Wall ripped a three-run homer in the second inning and a two-run double in the third to lead the Cards to a 12-9 win over the Padres. Wall doubled twice and homered to drive in five runs and also scored three times in the win.

Rusty Wall singled and doubled and scored three runs for the Cardinals, and Forrest Gallien singled and doubled to knock in three runs.

Eric McDonald singled and doubled, and Sam Dickinson ripped a two-run triple for the Padres.

J. Wall finished the week with a couple of hits in the Cardinals' tight 3-2 seven-inning win over the Rangers. But it was a run-scoring single by Woody Wilkerson in the seventh that helped the Cards clinch the win.

Kourosh Behnam walked to open the seventh, and Gallien reached on an error. Wilkerson followed with a single to drive in the go-ahead run.

R. Wall came on in to pitch the seventh. He retired the first two batters he faced before Tommy Towson doubled. But Wall struck out the next hitter to save the win for Sean Wasserman.

Wasserman had come on in relief in the third and tossed four shutout innings.

Still, the Cardinals trailed 1-0 heading into the last of the sixth before Wasserman walked and raced home with the tying run on a two-out double by Marc Guedenet.

Wasserman, who also doubled in the win, put down the Rangers in the sixth before the Cards won it in the seventh.

Towson finished the day with two doubles for the Rangers.

J. Wall was 3-for-3 with a double earlier in the week, but the Cards lost 6-4 to the Rangers.

Josh Miceli ripped two doubles, and Towson, Ben Walker, Kyle Bergland and Jake Walker each doubled in the win. Jon Breslin tossed three two-hit innings to get the win.

Sullivan, meanwhile, was dazzling the league with his pitching. The 11-year-old tossed three perfect innings for the A's in a 2-1 win over the Rangers, then came back to go the distance in a 2-1 win over the Pirates.

Sullivan allowed just three hits and struck out 13 on the way to the win over the Bucs last Saturday.

The A's scored first in the game when Steven Stege doubled in the third and scored on a single by Kyle Blair, but the Pirates tied it in the fifth when Logan Schafer beat out a bunt single and worked his way around the bases to score.

The A's broke the tie in the top of the sixth. Sullivan beat out an infield hit and scored when Matt Ellis bounced a ground-rule double over the left field fence. Sullivan put down the Bucs one-two-three in the sixth, two on strikeouts, to clinch the win.

Sullivan singled and doubled for the A's, and Schafer had two hits for the Pirates.

Sullivan teamed with Jason Lasswell to toss the A's to a 2-1 win over the Rangers earlier in the week. Lasswell gave up just a run on two hits in three innings to get the win, and Sullivan struck out seven of the nine batters he faced over the final three frames.

The Rangers scored a run in the top of the first, but the A's came back with two in the bottom of the first. Paul Elias walked and scored on a double by Blair. Scott Brown tripled home Blair.

Brown doubled and tripled in the win, and Blair had two hits.

The A's pounded the Indians 16-9 a day later. Blair went the distance to get the pitching win, striking out eight along the way, and he also singled and doubled.

Brown led the offensive attack with a couple of three-run homers in the first and fifth. Stege, Ellis and Kyle Dietrich added two hits each, and Lasswell tripled.

Matt Perrone and Liam Smith had three hits apiece for the Indians, and Chris Keesling and Noah Henry had two hits each.

The A's dropped a 14-5 decision to the Pirates on Thursday. Schafer singled and doubled to knock in three runs, and he was also the winning pitcher.

Nick Gaffney ripped a three-run double in the second and a solo homer in the sixth. Matt Nelson tripled, and Daniel Silva and Steven Genetti each doubled.

Elias singled and doubled for the A's.

Two-run doubles by Dylan Burke and Silva keyed a five-run rally in the fifth that lifted the Pirates to an 8-7 win over the Marlins earlier in the week. Burke and Schafer had two hits apiece, and Matt Nelson doubled. Schafer fanned five in three innings to get the pitching win.

Chad Corl was 3-for-3, Mike Brienzo singled and doubled, and Ben Hintz doubled for the Marlins.

Brienzo and Trevor Dill combined to pitch the Marlins to a 12-4 win over the Padres on Saturday. Dill tossed three shutout innings, and Brienzo helped their cause at the plate with a triple and three singles. Jeffrey Collins, Scott Sanders and Tyler Plane each doubled for the Marlins.

Chris Cuthbert was 3-for-3 with a double, and Anthony Skaran doubled for the Pads.

The Yankees won twice to remain unbeaten in league play.

Kyle Jensen struck out five in three innings of shutout pitching, and Derek Thomas fired the final three frames to lead the Yanks to a 5-3 win over the Indians. Bret Hampton's bases-loaded double sparked a four-run rally in the fourth that led the Yankees to the victory. Thomas had two hits.

Nat Henry singled and tripled for the Indians.

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Los Gatos Little League major division standings (as of May 8): Yankees 11-0, Pirates 10-2, A's 9-3, Cubs 7-4, Giants 6-6, Cardinals 5-7, Marlins 5-7, Rangers 5-7, Indians 1-11, Padres 0-12.

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