June 23, 2009

GV Orioles rally past PV Giants, 8-5

A solid relief pitching effort from Christian Straub helped turn the tide for the Grass Valley Orioles in Monday’s District 11 Little League Tournament of Champions major division game against the Penn Valley Giants.

Spotting the Giants a 3-0 lead after the top of the first, the Orioles rallied for five runs in the bottom of the inning then rode Straub’s no-hit relief pitching for the next four frames on their way to posting an eventual, 8-4, win.

The victory for the Orioles boosts the Grass Valley “B” team into Wednesday night’s 7:30 p.m. quarter-final game against the Sierra Foothills Braves from Colfax. Game time at Bear River Little League Park is set for 7:30 p.m.

In Tuesday’s TOC schedule for Area II teams at Bear River, the Sierra Foothills Marlins from Colfax meet the Nevada City Dodgers at 5 p.m. The second tilt at 7:30 p.m. matches the Bear River Astros and the Foresthill Giants.

Straub took care of all the outs in his four-inning mound stint as he fanned 12 before giving way to Chase Frey who recorded the last two outs to nail down the save.

Penn Valley’s Dominick Stepanian and Derek Frank had back-to-back doubles in the first inning to help the Giants get off and running.