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Photograph by Dai Sugano
The Yankees won the regular season championship in the Los Gatos Pony League. Members of the team included (front row, l-r) Jesse Fetke, Adam Rude, Luke Alioto, Matt Martini, Steven Whitham, Mark Helliboid and Brent Millen, and (back row, l-r) manager Joe Cerrito, David Holtzman, Nick Kay, Andrew O'Gorman, Dan Dressman, Nick Tom and coach Dom Yannoni.
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Pony's battle back to win second
By Dick Sparrer
When a team loses its first game in a double-elimation tournament, just reaching the championship game is quite an accomplishment.
But that's just what the Los Gatos Pony League 13-year-old all-stars accomplished earlier this month.
The Los Gatos Pony 13s dropped a decisive 15-5 decision to Blossom Valley in the first round of the tournament, and faced a long road to get back to the finals.
But Gatos battled down that road, beating Morgan Hill, Washington Manor and San Jose PAL, to get into that title game against Blossom Valley.
Blossom Valley beat Los Gatos again, but not nearly so decisively. BV had to struggle to pull out a hard-earned 4-3 victory over a scrappy Gatos squad to claim the tournament championship.
So Los Gatos didn't win the title, but still came through with a tremendous accomplishment in the tourney.
"They finished in second place which is their best finish ever," said Ira Holtzman, president of the Los Gatos Pony League.
The Gatos boys gave Blossom Valley a scare in the title game. The locals jumped out to a 3-1 lead before BV picked up three unearned runs in the fifth to claim the victory.
Los Gatos scored in the first inning when Danny Politi and J.P. Grist beat out bunt singles, and David Holtzman plated a run with a fielder's choice.
Nick Perrone led off the second with a single and raced to third on a single by Patrick McDonald. Matt Hirakawa drove in Perrone with a sacrifice fly.
Gatos added its third run in the third when Holtzman singled, stole second and scored on a double off the fence by Jason Livingstone.
After its 15-5 loss to Blossom Valley in the tourney opener, Gatos fought back to whip Morgan Hill 7-1, crush Washington Manor 14-2 and edge San Jose PAL 5-4.
It was the win over PAL that pushed Los Gatos into the finals.
Gatos jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first when Grist single, swiped second and raced home on a single by Holtzman.
PAL picked up a pair of unearned runs in the home half of the first, then scored again in the fifth to lead 3-1.
Russell Laubach doubled home an LG run in the sixth to cut the lead to 3-2, but PAL scored again in the bottom of the inning to lead 4-2 heading into the seventh.
Los Gatos was down to its final out after a pair of strikeouts to open the seventh, but Mark Hirakawa walked to keep Gatos alive. Lead-off man Politi worked a walk on a 3-2 pitch, and Grist did the same to load the bases.
Holtzman stepped to the plate, and once more the PAL pitcher went to a full count. With all three runners on the move, Holtzman crushed a double to right center field to clear the bases and give Los Gatos the lead.
Holtzman then took the mound for the bottom of the seventh and finished off PAL, striking out two of the three batters he faced. Holtzman went the distance for the win, striking out six in the game.
Livingstone tossed six innings of scoreless baseball to get the mound win in Los Gatos's 14-2 victory over Washington Manor. He fanned nine and allowed just two hits. Weston Piper came on to finish up with an inning of relief.
Livingstone doubled and singled twice to drive in three runs for Los Gatos. Holtzman and Laubach had three hits apiece in the win and Matt Martini singled and doubled. McDonald ripped a two-run double in the seventh and Matt Hirakawa and Grist had run-scoring singles. Piper also had a hit.
Los Gatos broke open a close game with a seven-run rally in the third on the way to a 7-1 win over Morgan Hill.
Livingstone and Marc Erickson each singled in the third, and Laubach walked to load the bases. Ryan Presley singled home a couple of runs, and Politi doubled one more.
Michael Robards singled a run home, Grist doubled in another, and Livingstone singled to drive in the last two runs in the rally.
Holtzman went the distance to toss a three-hitter, striking out nine. The only run he allowed was unearned.
In the tourney opener loss, 15-5 to Blossom Valley, Holtzman homered and singled for the locals and Presley, Livingstone, Sean Fetke and Perrone also had hits.
Yanks win title
The Yankees pulled out a tight 6-5 victory over the Devil Rays to win the title in the Los Gatos Pony League.
The Yanks had won the regular season crown with a 15-5 record, then posted back-to-back wins to finish first in the league tournament.
Dan Dressman tossed a seven-hitter, striking out 13 along the way, to lead the Yankees to the win over the Rays. But it took a run in the bottom of the seventh to make Dressman and the Yanks a winner.
Nick Kay and Martini opened the seventh with singles and moved to second and third and a throwing error. Luke Alioto followed with a single to drive in Kay with the winning run.
Martini doubled and singled twice in the championship win, and Dressman doubled and ripped a two-run home. Andrew O'Gorman singled and doubled, and Holtzman doubled.
Jeff Oleson singled and doubled for the Devil Rays, and Grist had two hits. Presley doubled, and Mark Ericson and Patrick Murphy each singled.
The Devil Rays earned their place in the title game with a 6-4 win over the upstart Phillies.
The Phils had finished last in the regular season, but battled the Rays to the wire before losing by two. The Phillies ended up third in the tournament.
Bryan Schiefelbein handcuffed the Devil Rays for four innings, leaving the game with a 1-0 lead in the fifth. But the Rays rallied for four in the fifth to take a 4-1 lead, and after the Phils cut the lead to 4-3 with two in the top of the sixth, scored two more in the bottom of the sixth.
The Phillies took the early lead when David Towson singled in the first, stole second, took third on a wild pick-off attempt and scored on a sacrifice fly by Schiefelbein.
That's how it remained until the fifth when the Devil Rays took control. Aaron Goldfarb reached on a fielder's choice, and Brian Ceglio and Murphy each walked to load the bases. Patrick Daily singled in two runs, and Adam Crane singled home two more to put the Rays up 4-1.
The Phillies cut the lead to 4-3 with two in the sixth. Schiefelbein singled and Laubach walked. Brian Burks singled home a run, and Jeff Ouellet drove in another with a ground ball.
But the Rays answered right back. Grist doubled, and Luke Harnal walked. A couple of wild pitches allowed Grist to score, and Ceglio singled home Harnal.
Grist had two doubles for the Devil Rays.
McDonald singled twice, and Laubach had a hit in the game for the Phillies.
Earlier in the tourney, the Yankees had whipped the Phillies 11-1 on a five-hitter by Holtzman.
Dressman homered, Holtzman had three hits, and Brett Millen singled and doubled for the Yankees. Nick Tom doubled, and Mark Helleboid, O'Gorman, Millen, Martini and Kay each had singles.
Laubach doubled, and Burks, Andy Betzina, Ouellet and Schiefelbein each had hits for the Phils.
The Devil Rays had opened the tournament with a 10-5 win over the Giants. Presley tripled and singled, Harnal doubled and singled, and Oleson, Daily, Grist and Ericson each had hits for the Rays.
Livingstone, Perrone, Brett Cavanagh, Matt Rose and Drew Bothman each had hits for the Giants.
The Giants had beaten the Rays 7-0 in the final game of the regular season on a one-hit shutout by Livingstone. Murphy opened the game with a single for the Rays, but Livingstone allowed no hits the rest of the way.
Pony standings
Los Gatos Pony League regular season standings: Yankees 15-5, Giants 12-8, Braves 10-10, Devil Rays 10-10, Marlins 8-12, Phillies 5-15.
Los Gatos Pony Tournament standings: Yankees, Devil Rays, Phillies, Giants, Marlins, Braves.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
