Little League All Stars: Tough Call Ends Potential Comeback For Albany 10s

Antioch 8, Albany 5

Records: Albany 3-1, Antioch 4-1 

The Star:  Owen Cooper hit a pair of singles and scored a run in the third for Albany, but his performance wasn't enough to overcome a five-run second inning for Antioch.

The Turning Point: Antioch poured on six runs in the first two innings, three of which were unearned and made the difference in the game.

The Quote: "We had a couple of sloppy defensive first innings. I think that's basically it, and then our team settled down. That was probably the difference. They're a good team," Albany coach Kellin Copper said.

Who's Next? Albany drops into the losers' bracket, and will play the winner of the Alameda/Clayton Valley game Thursday. Antioch will play Continental in the championship in the District 4 winners' bracket.

The Bottom Line:  A slow start for Albany cost it a spot in the winners' bracket championship and it will be eliminated with one more loss.

—————————————

Albany Little League's 10-year-old All-Star team coach Kellin Cooper saw what could have been a great comeback for his team dissolve with an odd sequence in the final inning.

What appeared to be a catch by Antioch center fielder Keith Hogan was ruled a trapped ball by the home plate umpire, and the call ended up squashing a sixth-inning Albany rally in an 8-5 loss in Antioch, at Wilson Street and Almondridge Drive, on Tuesday.

"It looked like he caught it to me and he made a great catch," Cooper said. "So that's it, we acted like it was a great catch by the center fielder."

Owen Cooper hit a shallow fly ball to center field, which appeared to have been caught by Hogan in center. The field umpire seemed to rule it a catch, but the home plate umpire ruled the catch hadn't been made. Jin Youg Heo was ruled out at second due to a force out, and Cooper was ruled out because he thought the ball had been caught and returned to the dugout.

Regardless of what happened in that inning, the elder Cooper admitted it wasn't the only thing that led to the team's downfall during the July 6 game.

"We had a couple of sloppy defensive first innings. I think that's basically it, and then our team settled down. That was probably the difference," he said. "They're a good team."

Albany chipped away at Antioch's early 6-0 lead by scoring in the third, fourth and fifth innings. After a double steal by Cooper and Esai Santos, Arif Zamil hit a single up the middle to knock both runners in, cutting it to a 6-2 lead. Albany scored once more in the fourth, and took advantage of a pair of Antioch errors to cut the lead to 7-5 in the fifth, but wouldn't get closer as Antioch tacked on an insurance run in the sixth.

"That's just a tough break for them. Albany's a great team, they hit the ball well," said Antioch manager Butch Felix. "We let them back into the game."

—————————

Antioch 8, Albany 5

Antioch 150 101 — 8 6 3  

Albany 002 120 — 5 4 3  

Antioch — Williams 3-1-0, Hermosillb 1-3-1, Luis 3-1-2, Easter 1-0-0, Gartner 3-0-2, Hogan 4-0-0, McKenna 2-0-0, Dominguez 1-0-0, Pino 1-0-0, Austin 1-0-0, Brown 1-1-0, Theisen 3-1-1. Totals 24-8-6.

Albany — Cooper 3-1-2, Santos 3-1-0, Zamil 3-0-1, Irie 0-1-0, Paraiso 1-1-0, Williams 3-0-0, Moscato 2-0-1, Gordis 2-1-0, Heo 0-0-0, Cowell 0-0-0. Totals 17-5-4.

Pitching

Antioch — Gartner 2 1/3 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 2 BB; 3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 K, 2 BB; Luis 1 2/3 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 K, 0 BB.

Albany — Paraiso 2 IP, 6 R, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 K, 2 BB; Gordis 3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 K, 2 BB; Cooper 1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 K, 0 BB.

Hitting — None.   

Download the movie

Download the movie

Download the movie