Pleasanton All Stars Unable To Overcome Danville

The Star: Darroch Koel came through big for Danville once again. His solo home-run in the third tied the game at 1-1, and his two-out RBI base hit in the fifth sparked a five-run rally. Koel also pitched for Danville, finishing with three strikeouts and only one hit in one and 1/3 innings.

The Turning Point: With the game tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the fifth, Danville was in need of runs. Stringing together several big hits and taking advantage of two Pleasanton errors, Danville scored five runs with a two-out rally, solidifying its victory.

The Quote:"They capitalized on some errors, and they hit well off us," said Pleasanton coach Todd Norton. “The errors we made put them in the lead.”

What's next? Danville will face Tassajara in the District 57 All Star Tournament Finals today at 6:00 p.m. to decide the district champion. With its second loss in two days, Pleasanton is eliminated from the tournament.

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A rough fifth inning spelled defeat for the 12-year-old Pleasanton National all stars as they lost 7-2 to Danville on Thursday, leaving behind their hopes of a district championship.

The score was close for the first four and a half innings thanks to high-level pitching from both sides. With the score tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the fifth, Danville’s offense was ready to erupt.

After getting two quick outs, Pleasanton’s pitcher Bradley Norton looked like he would have another quick inning. But Danville’s hitters had another plan in mind.

Darroch Koel smashed a base-hit to right field and a subsequent error by the outfielder allowed for a runner to score and for Koel to reach third. Another four runs would score off hits from Conner Redmond, Jared Dawson and Chris Lonestar before Norton got the final strikeout.

Though Danville was putting the ball in play, it was the error in the outfield and another error from the shortstop on a routine ground ball that let kept the inning alive.

"They capitalized on some errors, and they hit well off us," said Pleasanton coach Todd Norton. “The errors we made put them in the lead.”

Pleasanton had put itself on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead after James Cowick batted in Norton during the first.

It wasn’t until the third inning, with two outs, that Danville retaliated with back-to-back home runs by Koel and Redmond to take the lead.

Pleasanton tied it up in the top of the fifth when Garrett Howell’s base hit drove in Chase Godi. With two runners on base, Pleasanton had the opportunity to retake the lead, but a timely pitching change by Danville allowed Ryan Bowman to strike out Cowick.

“We didn’t execute when we had guys in scoring position,” said Coach Norton. “We know we’re a good hitting team, we just didn’t score runs today.”

Though Pleasanton beat Danville 6-3 last Friday, neither team was the clear favorite going into Thursday's match. Danville coach Mark Dawson said his players worked hard to pull out the win.

“If I had to say the one thing that made the difference, it would be that our boys showed an incredible amount of heart,” he said. “They didn’t get down on themselves, and they never gave up.”

Despite Pleasanton’s elimination from the tournament, the players kept their heads up, never stopped battling and, most importantly, had fun, said Norton.

The Pleasanton National all stars will now begin tournament play. The first competition, the San Ramon Little League Classic, will begin this Saturday.

Danville, looking to repeat for the third straight year as District 57 champions, will face Tassajara Valley today at 6:00 p.m.

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Pleasanton National   1 0 0 0 1 0 - 2 8 3

Danville                      0 0 2 0 5 X - 7 9 0

Danville (ab-r-h) Venezia 3-1-1, Koel 3-2-2, Redmond 3-2-3, Neswick 3-0-0, Bowman 3-1-0, Dawson 3-1-1, Ludwig 1-0-0, Lonestar 2-0-1, Banks 2-0-1, Batza 1-0-0, Bartnick 1-0-0; Totals 25-7-9.

Pleasanton National (ab-r-h) Norton 3-1-1, Cowick 3-0-1, Albanese 3-0-1, Chinn 3-0-0, Howell 3-0-2, Godi 1-1-1, Ibanez 1-0-0, Cassetti 1-0-0, Moroney 2-0-0, Zerio 2-0-1, Myers 2-0-0, Torquemada 3-0-1; Totals 27-2-8.

Pitching

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

Pleasanton National: Norton 5 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, 8 K, 1 BB.

Batting

2B – Dawson (D), Lonestar (D)
3B – Torquemada (PN)
HR – Koel (D), Redmond (D)
RBI – 2 Koel (D), 2 Redmond (D), 2 Dawson (D), Lonestar (D), Howell (PN), Cowick (PN)