Little League All Stars: Danville 11s Lose Perfect Record, Still Can Win NorCal Title

Scotts Valley 9, Danville 6

The Star: Ryan Bowman, Chris Lonestar and Kyle Batza all went 2 for 3 for Danville. 

The Turning Point: After Danville got the leadoff hitter out in third, Scotts Valley rallied for four runs — two coming with two outs — to open up a 7-3 lead.

The Quote: "I looked in the eyes of all of my players and there wasn't a single tear," Danville manager Mark Dawson said. "That was a sign of true determination."

What's next? Danville and Scotts Valley will meet at 11 a.m., at Osage Park for a true championship game of Northern California. Get live coverage of the game from the Patch on Twitter. Follow @patchsportsb at www.twitter.com/patchsportseb.

Bottom Line: Neither Darroch Koel or Connor Redmond pitched in Friday's game for Danville and both will be eligible to pitch on Saturday. 

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In its first chance to lock up the Northern California title, the Danville Little League 11-year-old All Stars turned in an uncharacteristic performance allowing nine runs as they fell 9-6 to Scotts Valley.

Danville had allowed a total of nine runs in its prior nines games combined.

"(Scotts Valley) had a bunch of hits; they beat us," Danville manager Mark Dawson said. "Now we have to look forward and prove that we're the better team tomorrow."

Because Danville made it all the way through the winners' bracket, Scotts Valley needed to beat Danville twice. The two teams will play at Osage Park in Danville on Saturday at 11 a.m., to decide the Northern California champion.

Danville got off to a good start with two runs in the top of the first, but Scotts Valley quickly took its first lead with three runs in its half of the inning. 

After a scoreless second, Danville tied it at three before Scotts Valley plated four runs in the third to take a 7-3 lead.

It didn't get much closer.

"I looked in the eyes of all of my players and there wasn't a single tear,"Dawson said. "That was a sign of true determination."

Ryan Bowman (2 for 3), Jack Morgan (2 for 4), Chris Lonestar (2 for 3) and Kyle Batza (2 for 3) all had multi-hit games for Danville, but it wasn't enough to overtake hot-hitting Scotts Valley. 

Danville will start ace Darroch Koel on the mound tomorrow. In Koel's last 19 1/3 innings pitched, he compiled a 0.62 ERA while striking out 25 and walking three.

Also available is Connor Redmond, who in his last six appearances has thrown 7 2/3  innings, with a 1.64 ERA. He's struck out nine and walked two.

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Scotts Valley 9, Danville 6

Danville 201 120 — 6 12 1
Scotts Valley 304 20x — 9 12 3

Danville (ab-r-h) — Venezia 4-1-1, Bowman 3-1-2, Dawson 4-0-0, Koel 4-1-1, Morgan 4-0-2, Redmond 3-1-1, Lonestar 3-1-2, Bartnick 1-0-0, Batza 3-0-2, Facteau 0-1-0, Banks 2-0-0, de Flores 1-0-1. 

Scotts Valley (ab-r-h) — Panos 3-2-3, Lane 2-2-1, Utic 3-1-3, Neiger 4-0-2, Riemer 3-0-1, Parsons 3-0-0, Rains 2-1-0, Rockow 1-1-1, O'Brien 3-2-1, Beratu 1-0-0, Christensen 1-0-0.

Pitching

Danville: Venezia 0.0 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 H, 4 BB, 0 K; Bowman 2.1 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 0 K; Morgan 2.2 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K.

Hitting (Danville)
2B — Bowman, Morgan, Redmond, Lonestar, Batza. 3B — Koel. 

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