Jan. 2, 2010
Foothill Force Perfect In Tourney Win
The Foothill Force, a foothills area 13 and under baseball team went a perfect 7-0 en route to winning the USSSA Toys 4 Tots Charity Tournament at the Big League Dreams Park in Manteca over Thanksgiving weekend.
Great pitching, timely hitting and outstanding defense over the entire weekend was the key in recording a perfect 7-0 mark.
On Friday night, the Force opened with two games in pool play. The first game was a nail biter as the Force came from behind and pulled out the victory in the final inning with a walk off double by Christian Straub winning 7-6 over the South Natomas Sluggers.
Logan Markstein pitched the final inning of the game striking out 2 of the 3 batters faced to record the win.
Game 2 of the doubleheader Friday night was against the NV Ballers from San Jose and the Force recorded their second victory of the night with a 6-4 win. Joe Raymond picked up the win with his 2-inning 0 run effort.
The final game in pool play was against Davis BC Voltage on Saturday afternoon in which the Force broke the game open in the top of the seventh inning. With the score 1-0, Tyler Toft delivered a key hit to left field that scored the 1st of 5 runs in the inning en route to a 6-0 victory. Travis Glynn earned the victory on the mound with an impressive 4 innings pitched only allowing 2 hits.
As the second seed in pool play, the Force opened up in the single elimination bracket play against the East Bay Rays from Union City on Saturday night. The Force scored early and often as they pounded out 15 hits and won 15-0 in the shortened 3-inning game due to the mercy rule. Jeremiah Moore pitched the complete 3-inning game giving up just one hit and striking out 8 batters.
Sunday’s tough schedule resulted in a triple-header as the Force ended up playing 3 consecutive games. In game one, the Force continued with the hot bats tallying 12 hits on their way to a shortened 4-inning game over the Radius Waves from Santa Cruz 13-1.
Frankie Cathers pitched the complete game to earn the victory allowing only 1 hit and fanning 6 batters. The big hit of the game was Frankie Cathers’ in-side the park homerun, his second of the tournament.
Sunday’s semi-final game against the Vacaville Bulldogs was a pitching duel as each team’s pitchers were solid throughout the game. The Force tallied 2 runs in the first, one in the second and two more in the fourth inning for a 5-0 lead. Jeremiah Moore pitched the first 5 innings to record his second win of the tournament fanning 10 batters and issuing only one hit and walking 2 batters.
The Bulldogs got things going in the 6th inning as they recorded two hits and scored twice. However, Joey Souza was able to close the out the 6th inning without any further damage and then pitched the final 7th
inning recording 3 straight outs for the 5-2 victory which earned him the save.
Joe Raymond had the hot bat going 3x3 with a walk and 3 RBI’s.
In the championship game, Joey Souza got the start on the mound against the number one team in Northern California – the San Jose Bruins. Joey provided a strong pitching effort for the first three innings giving up 2 earned runs as the Bruins took an early 4-2 lead after 3 innings. The next three innings both teams were denied any runs due to outstanding pitching from both squads.
However, in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Force was able to rally in the by plating four runners to take a 6-4 lead. Big hits in
the innings came from Frankie Cathers and Aaron Arnett each with a double and Kyle Soria with an RBI triple. Aaron Arnett pitched the final 4 innings of the game to record the win. Aaron only allowed one hit, fanned four batters and did not walk a batter.
Aaron also delivered at the plate going 3x3 with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs.
The big bats in the tournament were Logan Markstein batting an impressive .733 with five doubles and 6 RBI’s, Aaron Arnett .471 average, 5 doubles and 8 RBI’s, Michael Scudero .455 average and Frankie Cathers and Dayton Anderson each with a .444 average.
Kyle Soria also contributed with 5 RBI’s in the tournament and Brett Solomon,
Joey Souza and Tyler Toft each also drove in 3 runs apiece. This was a special tournament in which every player contributed to the success of
winning the tournament.
Many players stepped up with key hits with two outs and
runners in scoring position to get key RBIs as well as great pitching performances from many of the players. This was truly a total team effort.
The Foothill Force team is comprised of players mostly from the surrounding foothill area and includes players from the local little leagues of Bear River, Nevada City, Grass Valley, Forest Hill, and Auburn.