Cubs win regular season crown in Little League's major division
League tournament will get under way this week
By Randy Frey
With a pair of victories last week, the Cubs finished off the regular season in Los Gatos Little League major division play with an impressive 15-3 record, making them the No. 1 seed entering this week's season-ending tournament.
The league will use a new tournament format this year, with the 10 teams separated into two pools. Each team will play four games, and the top four teams will advance to the championship round beginning with semifinals on Thursday, June 6, and the championship game Saturday, June 8.
Pool 1 will consist of the regular-season champion Cubs, and the No. 4, No. 6, No. 8 and No. 10 seeds. Pool 2 will consist of the No. 2, No. 3, No. 5, No. 7 and No. 9 seeds. With two games still to play on Sunday, May 26, the final seedings were still undecided in what has been a very close regular season.
But what has been decided is that the Cubs are the top seed. The Cubs closed out their season with a 7-0 victory over the Reds. Andrew Gomez, Jake Scullion and K.C. Silva combined on a three-hitter for the Cubs, who got all the runs they needed when Scullion doubled home Matthew Berg in the first inning and later scored on a passed ball.
Paul Politi doubled and scored in a three-run fifth for the Cubs, and Gomez singled and scored twice.
Earlier in the week, the Cubs pounded the Reds 10-3 after breaking open a 2-2 tie with eight runs in the bottom of the third. Two-run singles by Tyler Schultz and Silva were the big hits in the inning. Politi had a single and a double for the Cubs, Gomez a triple and a single. Silva scored three times. Cole Meleyco was 2-for-2 with a walk for the Reds, and Taylor Stevens doubled and scored in the fifth.
It was a three-game week for the Cubs, who opened Tuesday with a make-up game against the A's. Each team scored three times in the third, and the score remained tied after the regulation six innings. In the top of the seventh, the A's scored four times and made it stand up with a 7-4 victory.
Darren Churchill tossed the last four innings for the A's, giving up just one run on five hits while striking out three. Nick Kalpin had an RBI single in the seventh for the A's and later stole home to add an insurance run. Derek Rodrigues singled twice and scored two runs. Brothers Paul Politi and Luke Politi each had two hits for the Cubs.
The No. 2 seed in the tournament was locked up by the Red Sox, who finished the season with a 13-5 mark after sweeping the Cardinals (6-12) last week. The Red Sox scored in every inning early in the week to beat the Cards 11-4, then scored three in the bottom of the fourth for a come-from-behind 7-5 victory on Saturday.
Craig Olsen pitched into the sixth inning to pick up the win for the Red Sox, and Garrett Blackwell had two hits to lead the offense. Earlier in the week, Blackwell had two more hits and scored three times, Olsen had two hits, and Stephen Hight doubled to lead the Sox to victory. Jason O'Brien doubled home two runs in the first inning for the Cards.
Going into Sunday's final two games of the regular season, the A's, Braves and Giants were all tied with 11-6 records, and all three had games that day. The A's played a make-up game with the Indians (5-12), and the Braves and Giants squared off in an important game to those interested in a higher seed.
Earlier in the week, the Giants defeated the Braves 4-2 behind the strong pitching of Kiko Alonso and Robbie Comeau. Alonso struck out nine in his three innings, and Comeau fanned five as each yielded a single run. Steven Zavodnick gave up just one run and struck out five for the Braves in his three innings.
Matt Horton delivered the big hit of the game, a bases-loaded single in the top of the fifth to break up a 1-1 tie. Comeau doubled and scored in the first inning for the Giants' other run. Zavodnick had two hits to lead the Braves' attack.
The Tigers needed a pair of wins last week for a chance at the No. 3 seed, and they opened play by outslugging the A's 11-5. But in the rematch Saturday, the A's got solid pitching and timely hitting to shut out the Tigers 7-0.
Kevin Danser had three hits to lead the Tigers to victory early in the week, Geo Shannon had a pair of singles, and Billy Cardia doubled. Blake Morrison struck out five and allowed just one hit in three innings of work for the Tigers. Churchill doubled and singled and scored twice, and Corey Lanagan doubled for the A's in defeat.
The A's broke open a close 2-0 game with five runs in the top of the sixth Saturday to win the rematch. Consecutive singles by Peter Heng, Lanagan and Rodrigues triggered the big inning. Kalpin and Daniel Ouellet had two hits each for the winners.
In other action, the Yankees and Indians played five scoreless innings Tuesday before the game was called due to darkness. The game got a late start because it followed the Cubs-A's extra-inning affair. The game resumed Saturday before the teams were set to meet again, and the Indians' Karl Winkleman walked to lead off the sixth, stole second and scored on a pair of wild pitches. Winkleman then took the hill and struck out the side to preserve the victory. Alex Silva had two hits for the Yankees.
Chris Bitter pitched a complete-game Saturday as the Indians prevailed 7-1. Nathan Burke singled three times and scored twice to pace the Indians' attack, and Winkleman added a pair of hits. Sam Panvini singled home Kevin Connelly with the Yankees' lone run in the sixth.
The season-ending tournament begins Tuesday, May 28, with two games each night at Baggerly Field. There will be four games each on Saturday and Sunday, with two more games on Monday and Tuesday next week. Teams will receive two points for a win and one point for games that end in a tie, and the top two teams in each pool will advance to the semifinals on Thursday, June 6, at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. The championship game is set for 3 p.m., Saturday, June 8.
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