Danville All Stars Come Up Big Against Granada

The Stars: Danville’s offense struggled to string together hits for most of the game, but the two players that carried the team at the plate were Darroch Koel and Conner Redmond. Both had an RBI double and a home run, hits that provided a boost for their team.

The Turning Point: With Danville carrying only a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning, Granada was still threatening to make a comeback. But back-to-back home runs from Darroch Koel and Conner Redmond provided the offensive spark Danville needed to seal its victory.

The Quote: "We expect to face every team’s best pitcher, and we look forward to it," said Danville coach Mark Dawson. "(Wesley) Katz had very good control and he was good with the off-speed pitches … but we went after him early and took advantage of two curve balls he left hanging over the plate."

What's next? With its win, Danville moves on to face Livermore American Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. to fight to stay in the District 57 All Star Tournament. The loss for Granada spells elimination from the tournament.

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With the District 57 Championship Title on their minds, the 12-year-old Danville all stars moved one step closer to achieving their goal with a 5-2 win over Granada on Tuesday night.

After starting strong, Danville’s offense turned stagnant, with the team holding precariously to a 3-1 lead going into the fifth.

Despite allowing three RBI doubles from Darroch Koel, Conner Redmond and Jared Dawson in the first inning, Granada’s pitcher Wesley Katz and an error-free defense combined for three scoreless innings and kept the shadow of a Granada comeback alive.

But hope for a Granada rally quickly faded, when in the bottom of the fifth inning, Koel and Redmond hit back-to-back home runs, sealing Granada’s fate.

"We expect to face every team’s best pitcher, and we look forward to it," said Danville coach Mark Dawson. "(Wesley) Katz had very good control and he was good with the off-speed pitches … but we went after him early and took advantage of two curve balls he left hanging over the plate."

Before the home runs, Granada threatened to tie the game several times but failed to pull through with big hits.

“We knew we had to play our best game,” said Granada coach John Benavidez. “Our pitching and defense were strong enough, but we just didn’t have the timely hits we needed.”

Granada, now eliminated from the district tournament, left a total of nine runners on base, which Benavidez cited as an example of the team’s struggle to take advantage of offensive opportunities.

Danville’s defense also made big plays when called upon, including shortstop Jared Dawson’s double play that ended the fifth and preserved Danville’s lead.

Pitcher Kyle Batza came up big when he managed to get his team out of the fourth inning with the bases loaded and the two-hole batter at the plate.

Batza was in fact only one of five pitchers that Danville put on the mound Wednesday night, part of a game strategy structured with future match-ups in mind.

“Being in the loser’s bracket right now and given our mentality that we’re going to be playing five straight games, we tried keeping the pitchers to 20 or fewer pitches so we’d have them for later games,” said Coach Dawson.

The strategy proved smart for Danville, as the team is scheduled to play again Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. against Livermore American. If Danville intends to take the district championship once again, it will need to win four games in four days.

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Granada          0 0 1 0 0 1 - 2 7 0

Danville           3 0 0 0 2 X - 5 7 0

Danville (ab-r-h) Venezia 3-1-1, Koel 3-2-2, Redmond 3-2-2, Neswick 3-0-0, Bowman 3-0-0, Dawson 3-0-2, Ludwig 1-0-0, Bartnick 1-0-0, Banks 2-0-0, Batza 1-0-0, Lonestar 1-0-0; Totals 24-5-7.

Granada (ab-r-h) Katz 4-1-1, Walker 4-0-2, Benavidez 3-0-1, Moreland 3-0-0, Buranis 2-0-0, O’Ferrall 3-1-2, Lesky 3-0-1, Cortez 2-0-0, McMillan 1-0-0, Mello 1-0-0, Wright 1-0-0, Steim 2-0-0; Totals 29-2-7.

Pitching

Danville: Redmond 1,1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 K, 0 BB; Bowman 1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 0 BB; Batza 2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 K, 2 BB; Venezia 1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 K, 1 BB; Dawson 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 K, 1 BB.

Granada: Katz 5 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 7 H, 5 K, 3 BB.

Batting

2B – Koel (D), Redmond (D), Dawson (D), Katz (G), O’Ferral (G)
HR – Koel (D), Redmond (D)
RBI – 2 Koel (D), 2 Redmond (D), Dawson (D), Walker (G), Steim (G)