By Dick Sparrer
The Pirates have to like their chances.
And why wouldn't they? The Bucs are unbeaten in the Los Gatos Little League major division tournament, and the Cubs would have to beat them twice this week to wrest the title away.
The clubs were to meet in the league title game on June 10. A Pirates win would end the regular season, but a Cubs victory would force an "if necessary" game on June 12, 5:30 p.m., at John Baggerly Field at Blossom Hill Park.
The winner of the league tournament advances to the District 12 Tournament of Champions that opens June 15 at the Lincoln Glen Little League field. Los Gatos faces Cambrian at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Pirates put themselves in solid position in the tournament with wins over the Rangers and Cubs last week.
The Bucs beat the Rangers 15-6 to move into the finals of the winner's bracket against the Cubs. The Pirates won that one 15-3 to advance to the title game.
Trent Edwards threw five strong innings to lead the Bucs to the win over the Cubs. He struck out 10, walked none and allowed just three hits.
A bases-loaded walk by Nick Russell and two-run singles by Eric Brown and Cory Graham sparked a seven-run third for the Pirates.
Brown had three hits to drive in four runs in the game and Edwards doubled and singled twice to knock in three. Trevor Branon had three hits and Russell walked five times and scored three runs.
James Furlo singled and doubled in the loss.
Earlier in the week, Edwards and Brown teamed to toss the Pirates to the 15-6 win over the Rangers. A two-run double by Branon keyed a 12-run rally in the sixth that broke the game open for the Pirates.
Graham had three hits for the Bucs and Edwards singled and doubled. Drew Bothman and Logan Schafer had two hits apiece in the win and Brown doubled.
Alex Anderson walked four times and scored two runs for the Rangers and Peter Baunach doubled. Scott Stephenson tossed three strong innings in the loss.
The Cubs battled back from the loss to the Indians to beat the Indians 10-6 and move into the finals. The Indians finished third in the tourney.
Travis Howell and Stephen Sweeney pitched for the Cubs in the win. Furlo was 2-for-2 with a couple of walks and Charlie Clarke doubled.
Jacob Anderson singled and doubled and Sean Penner, Andrew O'Gorman and David Holtzman each doubled for the Indians. Daniel Holtzman walked three times.
The Indians played their way into the third-place game with consecutive wins that eliminated the Padres, Rangers and Giants from the league tournament.
O'Gorman and Dan Holtzman tossed three innings apiece to lead the Indians to a 12-7 win that knocked the Padres out of the tourney.
Dan Holtzman was 2-for-2 with a couple of walks and scored three runs in the win. Anderson singled and doubled and Penner ripped two hits.
Matt Cooke tossed three shutout innings for the Padres, but the Indians opened up the game in the final three frames. Bryan Schiefelbein was 3-for-3 with a double for the Pads. Adam Crane had two hits and Cooke doubled.
Dan Holtzman ripped a pair of solo homers and Dave Holtzman knocked in three runs with a couple of hits to lead the Indians to an 8-6 win over the Rangers.
Jon Peterson and Jason Furia each singled and doubled in the win and Penner had two hits. O'Gorman tossed three innings to get the win.
Anderson belted a two-run homer in the sixth to make things close. James Gentry had two hits to drive in two runs and Baunach doubled.
The Indians eliminated the Giants a game later, scoring six runs in the sixth to pull out a 10-8 victory. Furia and David Barden each singled to drive in two runs apiece to key the sixth-inning rally.
Dan. Holtzman led off the fifth inning with his league-leading sixth homer of the year. Furia doubled and singled twice and Barden had two hits.
Chris McMorrow threw four strong innings for the Giants and left the game with an 8-2 lead. He struck out five in his stint.
McMorrow had two hits in the game and Brian Desmarais doubled twice to knock in three runs. Devon Schrock doubled.
The Giants had eliminated the Marlins and A's earlier in the week.
Alex Rollin flipped three shutout innings, striking out five and allowing just one hit, to lead the Giants to a 6-2 win over the Marlins. David Hasson blasted a two-run homer in the first and finished with two hits. Schrock singled twice and scored three runs and McMorrow doubled twice.
Kris Zanotto played his role as lead-off man to perfection in leading the Giants to a 5-2 win over the A's. Zanotto tripled, walked twice and was hit by a pitch to get on base four times and score two runs in the win.
Desmarais fired three shutout innings in the win and Ben Swartley tossed three frames. McMorrow came on in the sixth to nail the save.
Rollin doubled twice and singled to drive in three runs. McMorrow singled and doubled and Schrock and Desmarais each doubled.
Kyle Laubach doubled for the A's.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, June 12, 1996.
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