By Dick Sparrer
Los Gatos vs. Almaden.
It's a Little League rivalry that's been heating up through the years.
And it's a rivalry that will be renewed this week when the Los Gatos and Almaden Little League all-stars battle it out in the finals of the winner's bracket in District 12's 11-year-old tournament.
The clubs will collide on July 3, 5:30 p.m., at the Branham Hills Little League field (on Ross Avenue near Branham Lane) with the winner advancing to the tourney championship game on July 10.
"This is the big one for us," Los Gatos manager Dan O'Gorman said of the Wednesday game.
Los Gatos is coming off an impressive 6-0 win over Cambrian after opening the tournament with a win over Lincoln Glen. Almaden opened the tournament with wins over the all-stars from Union and Saratoga. "It was really a good game," O'Gorman said of the win over Cambrian. "The boys once again really played a great game."
Adam Nelson had tossed a one-hit shutout in the 5-0 win over Lincoln Glen to open the tourney for Gatos, and the locals came back with another one-hit shutout in game No. 2--but this one was more of a team effort.
Travis Howell, Alex Rollin and Bryan Schiefelbein teamed up to toss Los Gatos to the victory. Howell was touched for just one hit over the first four frames, and Rollin and Schiefelbein each tossed an inning of no-hit relief. The three hurlers combined for seven strikeouts and walked just three.
No base runners advanced past first in the game, thanks in no small part to the defensive effort of catcher Andrew O'Gorman. The Gatos catcher has just two passed balls in the first two tournament games and has allowed no stolen bases.
Schiefelbein drilled a two-run double to lead the offensive effort for Gatos in the win. Adam Crane singled twice to drive in two runs and Derek Tam singled and doubled. Rollin slapped two hits and drove in a run for the winners and O'Gorman singled and walked twice. Ryan Daily and Kyle Schafer added hits in the win.
The loser of the Almaden-Los Gatos game on July 3 will play July 9, 5:30 p.m., in the finals of the loser's bracket.
10-year-old division
The Los Gatos 10-year-old all-stars ran into that Almaden rivalry in the first round of the District 12 tournament, but the Gatos boys are battling back.
Los Gatos knocked off Branham Hills 9-6, then crushed Quito 20-0 to stay alive in the tourney's loser's bracket.
Los Gatos battled back from a 5-0 deficit to pull out a 9-6 win over Branham Hills. Gatos trailed 5-0, but rallied for five runs to tie it in the bottom of the third. A double by Michael Robards and singled by Matt Finelli, David Holtzman, Daniel Politi and Eric Rude sparked the five-run rally.
Los Gatos added four runs in the last of the fourth to clinch the win. Nic Perrone walked, Finelli and Holtzman each singled and Politi doubled to key the four-run outburst.
Weston Piper tossed three strong innings for Gatos and Cory Graham went the final two, striking out three in his stint. The defensive efforts of J.P. Grist at first base and Finelli at second helped hold down Branham Hills.
Piper struck out five in two innings of work and Chad Rabello fanned four in two frames to help Los Gatos to a 20-0 win in four innings against Quito.
It was a 17-run rally in the second that led Gatos to the easy win. Robards and Graham each doubled in the rally and Holtzman, Politi, Rude, Justin Moles, Piper, Grist and Matt Martini each singled. Los Gatos took advantage of eight walks in the inning.
Politi came back with a triple in the third to lead the Los Gatos bat attack.
Robards, Finelli, Holtzman and Perrone had two hits each, but Los Gatos lost 6-3 to Almaden in the first round of the tournament.
The game was tied 3-3 heading into the fifth, but a pair of unearned runs helped Almaden pull out the win.
Almaden took a 3-0 in the top of the first, but Gatos battled right back with three in the bottom of the inning. Singles by Finelli and Robards and a walk to Martini loaded bases, and Moles cleared the bags with a three-run double.
Holtzman and Graham shared the pitching chores, but fell victim to the unearned runs late in the game.
Los Gatos was to continue through the loser's bracket of the tournament with a July 1 game against Lincoln Glen. The winner will play the Union-Cambrian winner on July 8, 5:30 p.m., at the Cambrian Park field (Ross Avenue and Foxworthy).
That winner faces the loser of the Almaden-Saratoga game on July 9, 5:30 p.m.
The tournament championship game is set for July 10, 5:30 p.m., with an if-necessary game slated for July 11. Almaden and Saratoga remain as the two unbeaten teams in the tourney.
Nine-year-old division
The Los Gatos-Almaden rivalry was to be renewed July 1 when the nine-year-old all-star teams from the two leagues collided at the Union Little League field (on Camden Avenue near Blossom Hill Road).
The winner of that game will meet the Saratoga-Cambrian winner on July 8, 5:30 p.m., with the winner facing the Lincoln Glen-Union loser on July 9. That winner moves into the title game on July 10 against the Lincoln Glen-Union winner.
Major division
The dream is the same for every Little League major division all-star team across the country--to reach the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
And the road to that world series starts in the same place for every team--at the district level.
The Los Gatos Little League all-stars share that dream, and they started down that road this week when they opened play in the District 12 tournament at the American Little League field (Cory Elementary School behind Valley Fair).
The tournament was to begin July 1 when Los Gatos and Quito were to collide in a major division game. Union and Cambrian were to meet on July 2 with Willow Glen and host American battling it out on July 3. Saratoga plays July 5, 5:30 p.m., against the Branham Hills Little League all-stars.
Three games are set for Saturday. The Quito-Los Gatos winner battles Almaden on July 6, 10 a.m., with the Union-Cambrian winner to face Lincoln Glen at 1 p.m.
The first loser's bracket game is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday when the losers of the Willow Glen-American and Union-Cambrian games square off.
The tournament championship game is slated for July 17 at American with an if-necessary game set for July 18.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, July 3, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved