Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Los Gatos infielder Rusty Wall stretches for the force at second in action against Branham Hills on Monday. Los Gatos went seven innings to beat Branham 6-5.

Los Gatos, Quito in key match-up

LG 10-year-olds play for title

By Dick Sparrer

Marty Mullins is hot, and so are the Los Gatos Little League major division all-stars.

Mullins has pounded six hits--including a couple of home runs--over the past two games to help lead the Gatos 'stars into the District 12 winner's bracket final against Quito this week.

Los Gatos and Quito will meet on July 12, 5:30 p.m., at Baggerly Field with the winner advancing to the tournament championship game on Saturday.

Gatos opened the tournament with a tight 3-1 win over Union, then beat Branham Hill 6-5 in seven innings. The local kids pounded Cambrian Park 12-3 on Saturday to advance to Wednesday's game against Quito.

Mullins singled, doubled and homered to drive in six runs in Saturday's win over Cambrian. Justin Schafer and Forrest Gallien added two hits apiece in the 12-hit attack for Los Gatos.

Gatos rallied for three in the first and five in the second to jump out to a commanding 8-0 lead in the game.

Schafer reached on an error with one out in the first and moved to third on a pair of wild pitches. Mullins singled him home, then took second on a wild pitch.


Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Taking a look into the outfield as he pulls into second with a double is Derek Thomas of the Los Gatos Little League major division all-star team.




Derek Thomas roped a double to knock in Mullins, then trotted to third on a fourth wild pitch of the inning. He scored on Rusty Wall's ground ball.

Thomas took the mound and retired Cambrian one-two-three in the bottom of the first, then the Gatos offense went to work again in the second.

Gallien singled, but was forced at second by pinch hitter Jason Stein. With two out, Matt Perrone walked and Schafer beat out an infield hit to load the bases.

Mullins cleared the bags with a double to left-center. Thomas walked, then Wall and Danny Sullivan each cracked run-scoring singles.

Los Gatos manager Dan Mullins chose to pull his ace, Thomas, from the mound, and M. Mullins took over in the second. He shut down Cambrian on four hits over four and two-thirds innings before Stephen Genetti came on to get the final out.

The locals picked up two more runs in the fourth when Schafer singled and Mullins homered over the left field fence, and they added two in the sixth on a two-run single to center by Nate Dreesman.

A.J. Comeau also singled for Los Gatos in the win over Cambrian Park.

Thomas had helped get Los Gatos off to a solid start in the tournament when he tossed a four-hitter in a 3-1 win over Union. Thomas struck out nine and walked just one.

Gatos took the early lead with a run in the second when Dreesman walked, took second on a passed ball and scored on a pinch-hit single by Stein.

The locals made it 3-0 with two runs in the fifth. Jake Walker reached on an error and, after failing to get down the sacrifice bunt, Schafer blasted a two-run homer off the Baggerly Field sign on the bottom of the scoreboard. It was Schafer's first Little League home run.

Union threatened in the sixth. Two hits led to a run, and there were runners on first and second when a ball got past the catcher, Mullins. But he pounced on the ball and fired a strike to third to cut down the runner for the final out of the game.

Wall ripped a one-out single in the fourth for LG, and Perrone walked three times.

Mullins had starred defensively in the first game, but he went to work with his bat a game later. The slugger homered and singled twice in the 6-5 win over Branham Hills.

The clubs were locked in a 3-3 tie heading into extra innings when Los Gatos rallied in the top of the seventh.

Walker walked with one out and moved to second on a passed ball. Perrone slapped a ground ball to third, but the third sacker took too long a look at Walker and his throw to first was too late to get the speedy Perrone. But the first sacker came up throwing and gunned down Walker trying to take third. Perrone took second on the play.

Schafer beat a ground ball to the infield, and this time the throw to first pulled the first sacker off the bag. While he disputed the call, Perrone raced all the way home from second with the run to break the tie. Schafer took second on the play.

The Union hurler threw two straight balls to Mullins before coming in with a pitch that the slugger drove over the left field fence.

Gatos needed every bit of the 6-3 lead. Union scored twice, but Sullivan got the last three hitters on two strikeouts and a ground ball.

Sullivan tossed a five-hitter for the win, striking out 11 and walked just three.

Gatos took a 1-0 lead in the first when Mullins singled and scored on a double by Thomas. Union scored single runs in the first and second, but Los Gatos picked up two in the third. Perrone singled, stole second and scored on a single to left by Schafer, who took second on the throw to the plate. Schafer scored when Thomas reached on an error.

Union tied it with a solo homer in the fourth, and that same hitter came up in the sixth with no outs and runners on second and third. He worked the count to 3-2 before Sullivan got him on a pop fly to second. The hurler fanned the last two hitters to maintain the tie.

Schafer and Sullivan each had two hits in the win.

Saratoga, Almaden, Cambrian Park and Willow Glen were each still alive in the loser's bracket entering play this week. One of the four will meet the Los Gatos-Quito loser on July 14, 5:30 p.m., at Baggerly Field. That winner will face the LG-Quito winner on Saturday in the title game. An "if necessary" game is slated for July 17, 5:30 p.m.

10-year-old All stars

The Los Gatos 10-year-old all stars opened the District 12 tournament with three straight wins to advance to the championship game.

Gatos beat Branham Hills 11-1, Union 16-4 and Quito 13-7 to move into the finals on Saturday. The locals lost on Saturday and were to play for the tournament championship on Monday, July 10, at the Cambrian Little League field.

The young Gatos crew opened the tournament in impressive fashion with a solid comeback performance. The locals were trailing 1-0 and had no hits through three innings. But Los Gatos broke things open with 11 runs in the fourth inning to end the game.

Garrett Blackwell started the big rally with a single and K.C. Silva beat out a drag bunt for a hit. Robbie Comeau ripped a two-run double to give Gatos a 2-1 lead, but the inning was far from being over.

Mikey Denevi and Jackson Dallas each walked to load the bases, and Nick Elias walked to push across a run. Niki Chow roped a double over the left fielder's head to drive in two more.

Danny Wall and Paul Politi each plated runs with fielder's choices before Blackwell came up for the second time. His second hit of the inning, a double, drove in three runs and Dallas eventually singled in a run to cap the rally.

Dallas tossed a perfect inning in relief to get the mound win. Politi threw three strong innings, allowing just one unearned run on three hits.

Los Gatos pounded the baseball in the 16-4 win over Union a game later. Politi singled and doubled twice to drive in four runs in the win and Blackwell singled twice and doubled to knock in three. Silva had a double among his three hits and Comeau added two hits. Wall singled and walked three times to score four runs.

Chow tossed two and a third innings to get the pitching win. He came on in the third with two outs, the bags loaded and a 2-0 count on the hitter. He struck out the hitter on three pitches and got out of the jam. He came back to strike out the side in the fourth.

Blake Morrison started for Los Gatos, allowing no hits over two and two-thirds innings. Silva tossed the final inning for LG.

Left fielder Nick Kalpin made a nice defensive play to end the game against Union.

Politi tossed a complete game in the 13-7 win over Quito. He struck out four and walked three in the win.

Wall had a double among his four hits and also scored four runs in the win. Politi helped his cause at the plate with three hits and two runs-batted-in.

Blackwell had a perfect day, going three-for-three with threes runs scored and three RBI. One of his three hits was a double.

Silva knocked in two runs in the win, and Tim Trobbe belted a single.

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Los Gatos, Quito in key match-up