By Dick Sparrer
Steve Chase helped himself when the Braves battled the Giants in Los Gatos Pony League action last week--on the mound, and at the plate.
Chase walked just one in picking up the mound win for the Braves in the 7-4 win over Giants, and he helped his own cause at the plate by doubling and scoring a run in a four-run fifth-inning rally.
Bryan Clark singled and scored in the fifth for the Braves, and Adam Dallas tossed two innings of solid relief.
The Braves and Giants came out swinging in their next game, but the Giants went down swinging, striking out seven times in the first four innings against Eric Raich.
Raich, meanwhile, nailed a three-run inside-the-park homer to key a five-run rally and lead the Braves to a 9-2 victory. John Vartanian singled home Kevin Krug for an insurance run in the seventh.
Dallas doubled to spark a three-run fourth and Raich singled, stole second and scored a run in the fifth to lead the Braves past the Mariners, 5-4.
Ryan Roberts doubled and scored a run in the seventh for the Mariners and Alex Burda struck out six in three innings on the hill.
Walks helped the Braves to a tight 8-7 win over the Reds. The Reds made the game close when singles by Ben Winkleman, Brent Thelen and Brandon Burke keyed a three-run seventh.
The Braves batted around in the third and rolled from there to a 10-8 win over the Reds. Joe Sprutenburg tripled and scored on a double by Matt Torres to lead the attack for the Reds.
In other action, the Rangers beat up on the Mariners, scoring nine runs in the first two innings on the way to a 14-8 victory. Josh Adams and Simon Ormandy scored three runs apiece in the win.
Ben Frazier blasted a solo homer and Nick McAlpin doubled for the Mariners.
Frazier belted another home run against the Giants, but the Mariners lost a tough 5-3 decision. Beau Knight tossed a four-hitter to pick up the win and Keiju Sotoh singled and scored a run to key a four-run rally in the sixth.
Nathan Guido scored three runs and Darin Vieira singled and scored a run to lead the Red Sox to a 13-9 win over the Pirates. The Sox rallied for four runs in the third and picked up two each in the fifth, sixth and seventh on the way to the victory.
Brandon Chappatte homered and scored three runs for the Bucs.
The Pirates battled back for a 6-5 win over the Reds later in the week. Andrew Holcomb reached on an error in the fifth and later scored on a balk to snap a 4-4 tie and lead the Bucs to the win.
Ryan O'Gorman and Matt Swanson combined to toss the Pirates to the victory.
Winkleman allowed just three hits in six innings of work and he ripped a home run to spark the Reds to an 8-2 win over the Orioles.
Evan Pasternak walked and scored on a single by Chris Willard to help the Orioles pull out a tight 14-13 win over the Pirates. Markus Willard had two hits in the win, including a single in a three-run rally in the fifth.
A triple by O'Gorman, a double by Marc Walleen and singles by Swanson and Ajay Athavale sparked an eight-run rally in the fourth for the O's.
The Rangers two-timed the Red Sox, backing up a 5-4 win with a 15-7 victory.
Ben Shanker struck out seven in five innings of work to lead the Rangers to the 5-4 win. Nate Sweeters walked and scored the game-winning run in the seventh.
Ben Hall pounded three doubles and scored three runs to lead the Rangers to the 15-7 win over the Sox.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, May 22, 1996.
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