The Red Sox got on the board in the top of the first when Colin Chapman singled and Stephen Hight tripled him home. The Red Sox almost extended their 1-0 lead when Porter Holcomb sliced a ball down the right field line, but Jack Schweitzer made a diving catch and threw home to keep the runner at third.

"That was a huge play because momentum is a big thing in Little League," said Braves manager Steve Zavodnick.

Starting pitcher Nick Hirschman used the change in momentum to wrap up the first with a strikeout. Hirschman went on to pitch a complete game, surrendering just two runs and striking out eight.

The Braves mounted their biggest offensive outburst in the bottom of the second when Justin Lewis and Sam DeFever got things going with back-to-back singles. John Cameron followed by singling home pinch-runner Jamie Eldredge. With two outs, the Braves took the lead on 10-year-old Kevin Brogan's infield single. Kyle Johnson finished the four-run rally with a two-run double to right field.

Hirschman protected the Braves' 4-1 lead thanks in part to more defensive brilliance in the third. With two outs and Chapman on third, Hight was robbed of an extra-base hit when DeFever made a running catch in right-center to end the inning.

The Braves added two more runs in the bottom of the third when Lewis singled home Hirschman and scored on Cameron's two-out single.

The Red Sox managed a run in the fourth on consecutive singles by Ryan McGee, Jermel Ladd and David Picone, but the Braves responded in their next at-bat. Following a leadoff single by Johnson, Steve Zavodnick came through with an RBI double to cap the scoring.

DeFever preserved the lead with another fine defensive play when Hight rocketed a line drive off the center field wall. DeFever quickly retrieved the ball and made a one-hop throw right to Johnson, who laid down the tag.

"Sam was the MVP today," said coach Zavodnick. "He made some great plays in the outfield and had some key hits."

The young Zavodnick contributed with a diving catch in shallow left-center, while Johnson and Alex Horton also made fine catches.

"The Red Sox put the bat on the ball well," said coach Zavodnick. "Defense was the key to our win today."

Not to be overlooked, Red Sox pitchers Hight and Chapman collected 11 strikeouts in five innings. Both players added two hits at the plate, along with Ladd.

Meanwhile, the Braves had eight different players who collected at least one hit. Lewis led all batters with three hits.

"You'll have to look long and far to find a line-up like we have from top to bottom," said coach Zavodnick. "Every game I am giving out game balls to different guys."

And for that title game, there were indeed 12 Braves deserving of the honor.


District 12 TOC

The Braves had already planned out what they wanted to have happen in the opening round of the District 12 Tournament of Champions. They decided to rest their star pitcher, Steven Zavodnick, in the league's championship game so that he could pitch six full innings in the first TOC game.

The strategy worked perfectly for Los Gatos, as they beat Quito Little League's Braves 8-0 last Saturday. Zavodnick whirled a one-hit complete game shutout, while striking out 10.

"This was typical Steven Zavodnick today," said coach Zavodnick. "He was throwing well, but I don't think it was any better or worse than how he pitched during the regular season."

The victims in this case were the Quito Braves, who found out why Zavodnick had only been tagged for a total of five runs throughout the entire season. Nevertheless, Quito came out swinging in their at-bats.

Thomas Harvey provided some hope in the second inning with a groundout to the pitcher, which was the first contact off of Zavodnick. Thomas Nguyen spoiled Zavodnick's no-hit bid in the fourth inning when he hurried down the line to beat out a grounder hit to short.

But the Quito efforts could not match Los Gatos' early production at the plate. After three consecutive walks to John Sands, Zavodnick and Hirschman, Lewis cleared the bases with a line-drive double to right-center in the first inning. The 3-0 lead proved to be enough for the victory.

The Quito batters tried to mount a rally, but the Los Gatos fielding kept them in check each time. Cameron robbed Dylan Fish of a single in the second inning when he made a nice a play on a grounder to short. Cameron then made a nice barehanded play on a slow grounder to third several innings later to take a hit away from Nathan Gomez. Meanwhile, Zavodnick speared four comebackers during his six innings of work.

Los Gatos added two more runs in the fifth when Hirschman and DeFever circled the bases on several wild pitches and a timely double steal. They added more in the sixth when Johnson led off with a double to right-center. After Sands walked, Hirschman blooped a single just inside in the right-field line to score Johnson. Los Gatos wrapped up the 8-0 victory with two more runs in the inning.