A Clean Sweep For La Mesa Little League All Stars

The La Mesa National Little League 11-12 All Stars concluded a 5 game undefeated streak with a Monday evening win over Allied Gardens.

Playing to packed bleachers, both teams came out swinging.  The teams were closely matched in the first inning, but as the game progressed, La Mesa steadily added to their runs while their leading pitcher, Jackson Hulett, dueled with the Allied Gardens batters.  La Mesa was adeptly helped by strong fielding to take care of any who managed hits.

A series of runs from La Mesa brought the score to 9 to 2 in the bottom of the  4^th inning.  Two men were on base and two outs on the board.  Stepping up to the plate, La Mesa batter Eric Smelko watched one ball, fouled off a second, and then connected perfectly with the third to send it flying high over the right field fence.  This brought the score to 12 to 2 and ended the game since La Mesa was now 10 runs ahead.  The All Stars, Managed by Mark Smelko and coached by Melissa Odom and Daron Schwartz, now advance to Sectional playoffs in Vista.

The La Mesa 9-10 and 10-11 All Stars also had final round games on Monday.  Despite tenacious play from both teams, they were defeated, respectively, by the 9-10 Allied Gardens and 10-11 San Carlos All Stars.  Congratulations to all the players and coaches for a great series of games.

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