July 19, 2007

SPORTS

Painter’s grand slam wins it for Almaden South Major All-Stars

Walk-off shot seals 18-16 win over Almaden North in District 12 Major All-Star Championship game

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

Trailing 16-14 in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Almaden South All-Stars provided drama typically reserved for a playoff-like atmosphere when Travis Painter blasted a walk-off grand slam to give his team an 18-16 win over Almaden North in the District 12 Major All-Stars Championship game on July 17.

Almaden South’s Travis Painter hits a walk-off grand slam to give his team an 18-16 win in the District 12 Major All-Star Tournament Championship game on July 17. Photo by Kevin Jones at www.johub.com

The win ended an undefeated run for Almaden South, finishing the tournament with a 6-0 stretch that included having to beat the Almaden North team twice within one week. The win also catapulted the Almaden South squad into the 2007 Little League All-Star Section Tournament at San Jose’s River Glen Park. The team will begin play on Friday, July 20 with a match-up against the winner of the District 44 and District 59 game the day before.
When it was all said and done, Almaden South manager Dion Pizzo said the win was a reflection of the hard work and chemistry formed by the team.

“We fought through every game,” said Pizzo, whose team defeated Almaden North 12-7 in nine innings during tournament pool play on July 11. “We came together, not so much as the best players, but as a team. The good ones pulled for the not-so-good ones, and when somebody was down, everybody rallied around him. They played as a total group. It wasn’t the best nine players – it was a total team.”

For Almaden North manager Brad Rocca, the loss was met with mixed emotions.

“It’s obviously more of a high than a low because kids that we know, whose families we’ve enjoyed, just won,” Rocca said. “…It’s fantastic feeling knowing that your neighbors and friends win. But it is bittersweet, knowing that all the neighbors and friends on our side didn’t. That’s always been the difficulty having the same leagues playing against each other.”

The championship match-up was a seesaw slugfest, as leads were traded between the teams inning after inning before Almaden North forged ahead, scoring four runs in the top of the sixth – highlighted by a Ryan Brown leadoff home run and a two-run double from Bret Hausmann – to regain the lead at 14-12. Trailing by two headed into the bottom of the sixth, Pizzo said he offered his team one lone piece of advice – don’t panic.

Almaden North’s Michael Bellinger slides home trying to beat the throw to pitcher Ryan Perry (left) during the District 12 Major All-Star Tournament’s Championship game on July 17. Photo by Kevin Jones at www.johub.com

“Sure enough, we put the bat on the ball,” Pizzo said. “We got the grand slam, but we also had three hits prior to that, which were solid hits. …It’s a great way to end it. I knew we were going to hit the ball, it’s just whether you make plays or not. We did well.”

Pizzo noted that he wasn’t sure whether Painter’s shot went over the left-center field fence initially.

“When I looked over the top, I thought he (Almaden North left fielder Nick Bachmeier) lunged at it. I didn’t know whether he caught it,” Pizzo said of the grand slam. “…I froze for a second and then he went and raised his hands up (without the ball) and I said, ‘that’s a grand slam!’”

Both Pizzo and Rocca acknowledged that they knew it was going to be a high-scoring affair, given the familiarity with players on both squads.

“We knew for sure it was going to be a high-scoring game,” Rocca said. “There was no doubt about that. …There’s no surprises or secrets when you’ve got the same league playing against each other since January. Everybody knows what everybody throws. That’s when you know it’s going to be some battle royal, a slugfest. That’s exactly what it turned out to be.”

Scoring came early and often for both teams, as Almaden North took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first, only to see Almaden South counter in the bottom of the inning with three runs, featuring a leadoff home run from Ryan Perry and RBI singles from Matt Brass and Troy Kenyon.

Almaden North struck back in the top of the second, as Eric Caldwell led off with a solo home run to tie the game 3-3, before a bases loaded walk to Brett Nakano gave Almaden North a 4-3 lead. Almaden South countered once more with five runs in the bottom of the second to regain the lead at 8-4, getting the tying and lead runs across on a throwing error, before receiving RBI singles from Dylan Bell and Doug Frazier, as well as an RBI groundout from Kenyon.

The Almaden South Major All-Stars won the District 12 Major All-Star Tournament Championship game on July 17 by an 18-16 score after Travis Painter hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning. Photo by Kevin Jones at www.johub.com

From there, Almaden North snagged the lead again in the third with a six-run outburst highlighted by an RBI single from Matt Woodley, a two-run single from Nakano that gave Almaden North a 9-8 lead, and an RBI double from Hausmann to make it 10-8. Almaden North also scored runs on a passed ball and an RBI groundout from Kyle Marquez.

As was the story all game long, Almaden South countered again, this time with a two-run effort in the bottom of the third, getting an RBI double from Painter and an RBI single from Brass to tie the game 10-10. Once again, Almaden North struck back with two runs in the fourth on an RBI double from Michael Rocca and a passed ball to take a 12-10 lead before Almaden South scored four times in the bottom of the fifth on an error, a passed ball, an RBI groundout from Frazier and an RBI single from Brass to take a 14-12 lead, setting the stage for a wild, drama-filled sixth inning.

Despite the 18-16 loss, Rocca, who went on to manage the Almaden North team after winning the 2007 District 12 Tournament of Champions with his Almaden North Braves team, said he was pleased with his team’s effort, noting that the 2007 season is one he won’t soon forget.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our guys,” Rocca said. “We got all the way to the championship game, took it down to the wire and took the lead into the bottom of the sixth. How much better can it get? …This has been the greatest season of my life.”

Pizzo noted that while he couldn’t picture the game ending on a walk-off grand slam, he thought the game might come down to something special in the end.

“That’s a story ending right there,” Pizzo said. “I was just praying that it wasn’t a blowout for either side. I didn’t want to humiliate them, and I sure didn’t want to be humiliated. That score, that’s awesome. They (Almaden North) can hold their heads up high because they put a beating on us. We just happened to get the last hit.”

New QB, similar game plan for Pioneer football this coming season

Speed, athleticism key aspects to Mustang offense for 2007

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

Roster turnover is an inevitable part of the year-in, year-out process for any high school football team, or any other high school sports team, for that matter.

Pioneer football players go through summer workout drills on July 16 in preparation for the 2007 season.

The Pioneer football squad is no exception to this rule, as the team is spending the summer getting ready for the 2007 season with changes in store on offense. Among the most notable changes may be at quarterback, where incoming senior Joe Alise will take over for 2007 graduate Chris Foley, who spent three years as the team’s starter. To that end, head coach Mark Krail said he’s pleased with the progress he’s seen from Alise this summer, and pointed to the incoming senior’s vast array of athletic abilities as reason to be optimistic.

“Chris did a great job for us for three years, and did exactly what we asked him to do, and he took our team to the playoffs all three years,” Krail said. “…With Joe, the potential is big. Whether we realize that potential or not, we’ll find out.”

Krail noted that Alise “took command of the huddle” since the first day of off-season practices, adding that the quarterback’s mobility and strong arm will add another wrinkle to Krail’s traditional run-heavy offense.

“Everything looks good on paper, but when a play breaks down, if you have somebody that’s got a bit of elusiveness and can buy some time to make things happen after a play breaks down, that’s a special type of athlete,” Krail said of Alise. “Potentially, Joe has that. It’s a matter of staying calm and realizing how to go about the sequencing of things. He should be fine. He’s a tremendous athlete.”

Pioneer’s Marquee Heffner (25), shown here in a game from last season, will team up with fellow running backs Shane Murray and Mike Cobb to provide ample speed out of the backfield for the Mustangs in 2007.

For Alise, getting the chance to start his senior year requires the same mentally he had one year ago, as Foley’s backup.

“Last year, in the back of my head, I always knew that I was one play away from being a starter,” said Alise. “So I kind of kept that mentality in practice just the same. …This year, in the off-season, I put a lot more work in just because I know there’s a lot more expected of me.”

Still, Krail said Alise’s rise to the starting quarterback job hasn’t been the only bright spot this summer. Krail’s backfield will feature a pair of returning running backs in Shane Murray and Marquee Heffner, who both received ample playing time as juniors last season. In addition, Krail will also look to fullback Mike Cobb to help pick up yards on the ground and provide key blocks for the running game. The one aspect of the running game those three runners possess, said Krail, is speed.

“Speed kills, right? That’s what they say, and you can improve someone’s speed, but speed is really a gift,” Krail said. “We’re pretty lucky. We’ve got three guys who are pretty fast who are going to be in our running back group, and then you add a quarterback to the mix. I don’t think speed’s going to be our problem, and I think that goes for our defense as well. I think we’re going to be running around pretty good.”

Still, noted Krail, with Alise in tow at the quarterback spot, the offense might just open things up at times through the air, adding that the team will return tight end Travis Lorius, who started as a junior last season.

“Our skill guys who are returning, with Shane, Marquee, Joe Alise and Travis, it’s a pretty good group,” said Krail, who will also have Mike Cobb in the backfield as a fullback. “…I think that there’s some pretty good speed and some pretty good toughness there, and I think we’ll be able to hopefully run the ball a little bit, and we should be able to throw it a little bit too. I’m looking forward to that part of the game opening up as well.”

Pioneer starting quarterback Joe Alise will get the chance to start as an incoming senior this season after spending time as a backup to three-year starter Chris Foley in 2006. Photos by Dan Miranda

“(Alise) has got a really strong arm, he’s mobile and we’ve always been a running team, but now that we have an agile quarterback, we’ll probably be passing a bit more,” added Lorius.

A key to the offense this season, said Krail, is the continued progression of the team’s offensive line, which lost three senior starters from last year’s squad. And while incoming seniors Tyler Chase and Eric Kuykendall will return to the line this season after spending 2006 as starters, Krail said there’s still plenty of work to be done to that area of the offense.

“A good offense or defense always starts with the lines, and our offensive line is an area we need to build on,” said Krail. “We graduated three from our offensive line last year, so we’re looking for guys to fill those spots. I’ll feel more comfortable with where we are when we get those spots solidified.”

But when it’s all said and done, noted Alise, the summer workouts are just a prelude to what’s in store for the team during the 2007 regular season. To that end, he noted, the seniors on the squad are taking every off-season opportunity to better themselves for another season.

“We’ve all done a lot of hard work in the off-season and stuff like that,” said Alise. “We have a lot of returning seniors and we expect a good year. We don’t want to waste any opportunities we get.”

That mentally also extends to some of the team’s underclassmen as well.

“I’m just hoping to help the team win,” said Lorius. “I don’t really care about my stats, I care about the team and helping us get as far as we can.”

Almaden North 11-year-old All-Stars end season two runs short of championship

Team wins five straight in tournament to reach finals

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

The Almaden North 11-year-old All-Star team saw its blistering run through the District 12 All-Star Tournament come to an end in the championship game with a close 4-3 loss to Saratoga on July 10.

The loss ended an otherwise successful run for Almaden North, which advanced to the championship game after reeling off five straight wins to open play, beginning with a 15-10 win over Lincoln Glen on June 29 that saw home runs from Scott McCoy and Matt McLaughlin.

Despite the close 4-3 loss, Almaden North manager Scott McLaughlin said he was pleased with his team’s play throughout the tournament.

“Kevin Mohs (Almaden North assistant coach) and I could not be more proud of the boys’ efforts,” he said. “They had a great tournament.”

Saratoga got its offense going first in the championship game, scoring single runs in each of the first four innings before Almaden North countered with a two-run inning in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 4-2. The score remained the same until the bottom of the sixth, when Almaden’s Steven Vega swatted a solo home run with one out in the inning to cut Saratoga’s lead further to 4-3. Almaden went on to threaten further, getting runners on the corners with two outs before Saratoga eventually ended the game for a 4-3 final.

“Saratoga is a great team,” McLaughlin said. “They have great fundamentals and are well-coached. We love playing them because it brings out the best in us.”

The championship game loss came on the heels of a close 4-2 win for Almaden North over Cambrian the day before. Almaden starting pitcher Matt McLaughlin helped lead the team to victory, tossing five solid innings while allowing just two runs. Travis McCurdy then came on in relief in the sixth and shut the door for the save, but not before getting some key defensive help along the way, as the game ended on a double play when Almaden center fielder Kyle Mariconz caught a line drive and quickly threw back to first baseman Dakota Calvert to double up a Cambrian runner for the final out.

“Cambrian was the team to beat,” said McLaughlin. “…I will never forget the catch and throw Kyle made from center to Dakota at first for the game-ending double play. The players, coaches and parents were jumping around and screaming like we won the lottery. That is what Little League is all about.”

In addition to the team’s opening round win over Lincoln Glen and its 4-2 win over Cambrian in the semifinals, Almaden North also picked up three other wins, including a 13-9 final on July 2 over Quito, which featured another home run from McCoy, as well as solid pitching and hitting from Matt Ashley.

Almaden North then picked up a win on July 6 over Los Gatos American, a 6-5 final in seven innings that ended when Matt McLaughlin singled with the bases loaded for the win. Prior to the team’s semifinal game versus Cambrian, the Almaden North squad picked up a robust 16-0 win over San Jose American, which featured a grand slam from Calvert in the first inning, as well as stellar defensive plays from Derek Hogle.

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