SFLL Giants, NC Red Sox post
TOC major division victories
In a pair of well-played games Thursday at Bear River, the Sierra Foothills Giants and the Nevada City Red Sox both held off late game rallies by their respective opponents to notch a pair of District 11 Little League major division Tournament of Champion first round victories.
TOC action continues Friday at Bear River in Area II play as the Sierra Foothills Angels, the Colfax area league’s No. 1 team, takes on the Bear River Red Sox, the BRLL’s “B” team at 5 p.m.
In the 7:30 nightcap, the Penn Valley White Sox, a first round winner on Wednesday, meets the Bear River Giants, the BRLL’s “A” team.
Here’s a recap of Thursday’s games:
SFLL Giants 5 Penn Valley Cardinals 4
In an exciting game which had plenty of baseball strategy utilized by both squads, the Giants escaped a tight situation in the sixth inning to pull out the tight one-run verdict over the champions from the Penn Valley League.
In the sixth inning with the Cardinals at bat, a semi-intentional walk by Giants pitcher Mike Lerner led to an ensuing throw down from catcher Brett Fowler to shortstop Matt Paskey for a key second tag out.
That was followed by a one-hopper back to the mound where Lerner snagged the grounder and flipped to first base to end the game.
“It was a tight game the whole way,” said SFLL Giants manager Ron Fowler. “We picked up four runs early and then held on from there.”
Fowler went with Paskey on the mound for five innings before the Giants pitcher reached his 85-pitch count limit.
Roger Lillie then came on for the Giants to start the sixth inning before being relieved by Lerner.
Chris Walton had a big 2 run single for the Giants who now advance to Saturday’s 7;30 p.m. game against the winner of tonight’s SFLL Angels-BRLL Red Sox game.
Nevada City Red Sox 5 Foresthill 3
Skyler Carpenter blasted a pair of triple and Rob Wood went 2x2 with a home run as the Nevada City Red Sox topped Foresthill 5-3 to advance in TOC play.
David Bernadett went 1x2 with a key RBI for the winners while Charlie Stevens also collected an important hit.
The Sox used four pitchers in the win with Alex Chervoz hurling the first three frames for the win. The bullone of Carpenter, Wood and Cameron Townsend then allowed Foresthill just one hit over the last three frames.
The Red Sox advance to Saturday’s 5:30 p.m. game against the Grass Valley Angels who posted a 13-8 win over the Nevada City Indians on Wednesday night.