Cohen Catalyst as Twin Cities Reaches District Finals

Here’s a scouting tip for Twin Cities’ next opponent in the District 3 11-12 All-Star Tournament: If you have a choice, bat first.

Do anything to avoid having Zach Cohen lead off the game.

The amazing Cohen led off consecutive games with home runs Saturday and Sunday, helping propel Twin Cities past Mill Valley 8-5 and San Francisco American 5-3 in the opening rounds of the single-elimination portion of the district tournament.

The pair of wins advances Twin Cities to Wednesday’s finals, where it will host Tiburon at Joe Wagner Field in Corte Madera at 5:30 p.m. The winner will advance to the Section 1 Tournament this weekend in Petaluma.

The Twin Cities 9-10 All-Stars also remained alive in their quest for a district title, thumping Tiburon 10-0 Saturday.

They will take on Novato North in Monday night’s semifinals at Gallinas Field at 5:30 p.m.

The season came to an end for the other two Twin Cities entrants in the event as the Junior Division All-Stars ran into a hot pitcher in a 3-0 loss to Mill Valley, while the 10-11 squad likewise failed to score in a 7-0 defeat at the hands of San Francisco National.

The 11-12 team’s path to the finals was a bumpy one. In fact, Twin Cities trailed 5-4 in the sixth inning and was just three outs from elimination before Alex Wilson, the club’s No. 8 hitter, belted a home run over the center field fence to tie the game.

Twin Cities went on to add three more runs, then held on for the win.

“It was a fantastic game – a well pitched game and there was a lot of hitting,” observed Twin Cities coach Bill Ryan, whose first two hitters (Cohen and Clayton Demski) hit home runs. “It looked like we were on our way, but the Mill Valley pitcher settled in nicely.”

Cohen’s repeat act Sunday helped push Twin Cities to a 5-1 lead entering the last of the sixth, but things then got a bit scary. Three consecutive San Francisco American doubles cut the four-run deficit in half, and it took a nice play by John Ryan at shortstop to kill the rally and send Twin Cities to the finals.

Brahman Dyer had the defensive highlight of the game, making a diving catch in right field in the first inning.

The Twin Cities team is quite familiar with finals opponent Tiburon as clubs from the two leagues often square off during the regular season.

“We know they are very good. We respect their pitching and their hitting. It’s going to be a tough battle,” Ryan noted. “Both teams have all of their pitchers available, which is the way it should be.”

Mill Valley's Mason Collins had a day to remember at the Twin Cities Junior All-Stars expense, pitching 6 1/3 innings of perfect ball and getting a key two-run single to lead his team's win.

The right-hander used a variety of speeds and locations to keep the Twin Cities hitters off-balance. Only a one-out double off the bat of opposing pitcher Tyler Peck in the top of the seventh inning got in the way of pitching perfection.

Mill Valley struck for two runs in the bottom of the second when Collins laced a line drive into right field to drive in Brett Bowyer and Jack Elias. The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the sixth, when Bowyer launched a massive 340-foot home run to improve the lead to 3-0.