Game Reports from Piedmont Baseball Foundation, March 5-11

By Matt Burge

Weekly game results for Piedmont Baseball Foundation teams are listed below. Game information from coaches and team representatives should be submitted by Sunday at 8 p.m. at www.piedmontbaseball.org using the “Game Publicity” menu item. Results below are from games played last week

PINTO

Piedmont Cubs 32, Orinda Warriors 26

After a strong start in which they batted through the lineup the first 2 innings, the Cubs held off a furious comeback from the Orinda Warriors in the opening game for the Cubbies. The Cubs were paced offensively by JoJo Murphy and Michael Aikawa's four hits apiece and Owen Somerville's two doubles and five runs scored. Defensively, the Cubs Sam Corcoran, Ben Barnes and Owen Reilly made spectacular catches of screaming line drives.

MUSTANG

Piedmont Bandits 11, Piedmont Tornadoes 8

The Bandits broke an 8-8 tie in the top half of the final inning and then held off a two-out rally to secure the win. The final play of the game saw Tornado Jacob Tay drive a deep fly ball to center field, but Ellington Davis came up with the catch to end the game. The Bandits were led by excellent pitching from starter Alex Hilton and the bat of Ben Halperin. The Tornados got two hits in one inning from Trevor Thayer and solid pitching from Taylor Wong.

Piedmont Polar Cats 9, Piedmont Bears 8

The Polar Cats jumped out to a five run lead, but the Bears fought back to make it 5-3 in the second inning with good hitting from Elliot Meeks and Cole Canine. The Bears shut down the Polar Cats for three innings with good pitching from Luke Barrett. The Polar Cats battled back with a lead-off triple from Ethan Drake. Cutter Mitchell drove in the final winning two runs with a line drive. Garen Riley played a great game at shortstop. Abe Barnes closed for the Polar Cats helping set the stage for the big comeback.

Piedmont Jedi 11, Piedmont Knights 10

The Jedi came roaring back from a 9-1 deficit to beat the Knights. Ben Levinson led the Jedi with two perfect innings on the mound and 3 hits. Max Wagener also pitched well and had 2 hits. Luke Harris pitched well for the Knights.

BRONCO

Piedmont Aces 9, Moraga 4

Nick Moeller hit a home run; Gabriel Liu and Julian Turner scored with RBI doubles. Ej Cheung and Grant Keating scored with doubles. Cheung also had a 2 RBI single. Elan Valdez-Kaminsky and Samuel White both had RBI singles. Carson Lang scored after getting on base with a single. Lang also made a great catch at first. Andrew Newell pitched well with 3 strikeouts in 2 innings. Jonah Sanders pitched 2 good innings with 4 strikeouts.

Piedmont Vipers 7, Orinda 10

The Vipers made another strong comeback, but their rally fell short in the last inning. First-time pitchers Aidan Dixon and Kevin Judd pitched well. Dixon and Judd also played well at second, while Will Suppiger made several plays at first. Max Davis, Patrick Filler, and Trent Settlemier led the offense.

Piedmont Vipers 6, Moraga 11

The Vipers mounted a strong comeback from an early 4-run deficit, but fell to Moraga in the last inning. Logan Vawter and Owen Levinson pitched two strong innings each. Dylan Thayer and Tate Pieper both stole home.

Piedmont Iron Pigs 5, Moraga Iron Yankees 4

Solid defense and strong pitching from Ben Fujita, Max Lee, Zach Huffins, and Will Robison kept the game close. Will Robison smashed a home run over the left field fence and was 2 for 4. Hess Evans was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's and drove in the go-ahead run with a 2-out 8th inning hit. Zach Huffins was 3 for 4 and scored the go-ahead run in the 8th.

Piedmont Aces 6, Rebels 4

Andrew Newell scored off a double. Grant Keating and Nick Moeller scored off singles. Sam Von Hermann threw to Andrew Newell at home plate twice who tagged the runners; one of the plays was a double play with Von Hermann catching the fly in center. Sam Von Hermann also pitched effectively with 4 strikeouts.

PONY

Piedmont Highlanders 6, Orinda Kodiaks 4

Hits by Sophie Baker, Michael Greenstein, Nate Tolles, Gus Gilbert, Max Manalo- LeClair, Connor Addiego, and Lane Manalo-LeClair put the Highlanders ahead in the 2nd inning for good. Greenstein got the win, Baker pitched an inning of relief, and Levinson the save.

Piedmont Highlanders 20, Orinda Kodiaks 1

The Highlanders dominated Orinda in this game after scoring 16 in the 3rd inning. Everyone contributed to the win, with the entire lineup batting through two and a half times in the inning.

Piedmont Highlanders 9, Orinda Kodiaks 6

After 3 scoreless innings, the Orinda Kodiaks broke the game open with 4 runs in the 4th. The Highlanders got one back after Dylan Porter tripled and Max Manalo-LeClair singled to drive him in. In the 5th, the Highlanders scored 3 with hits from Lane Manalo-LeClair, Porter, Colin Dixon, and Sophie Baker. Orinda got one back scoring on a wild pitch. Key hits from Michael Greenstein, Nate Levinson. Lane Manalo-LeClair drove in 2 and stole home.

Piedmont Highlanders 9, Fremont Knights 1

The Highlanders scored four runs in the fourth on an RBI double by Nathan Tolles, a groundout by Nate Levinson, and a walks from Gus Gilbert and Devan Joseph. The inning got off to a hot start when Lane Manalo-LeClair singled, bringing home Max Manalo-LeClair and Levinson. A triple by Colin Dixon ignited the offense, scoring Connor Addiego. That was followed up by Gus Gilbert's single, bringing home Dixon. Max Manalo-LeClair recorded the win for Piedmont. Tolles finished the game, holding Fremont hitless over three innings.

Piedmont Highlanders 7, Fremont Knights 10

Fremont scored four runs in the first inning to build an early lead. Piedmont scored one run in the bottom of the second to cut the deficit to four. Fremont piled on two more runs in the top of the seventh to run the score to 10-1. In the bottom of the seventh, Piedmont rallied. An RBI single by Nate Levinson, a walk by Gus Gilbert, and an RBI single by Dylan Porter triggered the Highlanders' comeback attempt, which fell short at 10-7.

Piedmont Highlanders 7, Fremont Knights 1

The Highlanders scored three runs in the fifth on an RBI single by Connor Addiego, an RBI single by Nate Tolles, and a double by Colin Dixon. Dylan Porter baffled Fremont, striking out 11 batters. The Highlanders' pitcher allowed one earned run on four hits and one walk over seven innings. Addiego, Sophie Baker, Colin Dixon, Gus Gilbert, Matt Lichens, Porter, and Tolles each got hits for the Highlanders. Tolles led the team with two hits.

SOFTBALL U8 DIVISION

Piedmont Purple Puppies 6, Oakland Pink Panthers 0

Jillian Tiao stunned the visiting Oakland opponents with 6 strike outs and Isabella Epstein had 2 strong shutout innings to win her the game MVP. Both girls also scored runs, along with Mia Call, Caroline Collins, Joyce Stern and Shari Lynn Halden. Offensive support was also provided by Ruby Trost-Goldhammer, Anna Jansson and slugger Ella Kalmbach. Definitely a dominant season debut and great team performance by the Purple Puppies!

SOFTBALL U10 DIVISION

Piedmont Mudhens 6, Dragons 4

Led by stellar pitching from Kyra Gardner and Caroline Strauch, the Mudhens secured a victory. Trailing 4-0 after the 1st inning, Anna Greenstein crushed a grand slam. Cameron Park and Kylie-Ann Heller had clutch hits. Kyle Connors, Shelby Lang, Anna Smegal and Betty Hosler drew walks that enabled a rally to score 2 more runs. The Dragons started out strong with 4 runs in the top of the 1st against the Mudhens, with Dragons pitchers Camille Creighton, Nina Tafapolsky, and Maeve Gilbert pitching well, striking out 13.

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