Pleasanton National All Stars Outpitch, Outhit Danville

The Star: Pleasanton's starting pitcher James Cowick brought the heat against Danville's batters. Finishing with 11 strikeouts and only four hits in his five innings-pitched, Cowick held Danville to only three runs.

The Turning Point: Though Danville scored first, it was a short-lived lead as Pleasanton put four runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Three walks by Danville's starting pitcher Darroch Koel in addition to smart base running and key hits gave Pleasanton enough of an edge to take control of the game.

The Quote: "Danville is a great team and we knew we had to take the tournament one game at a time," said Pleasanton coach Todd Norton. "We stayed humble, we worked really hard, and we were patient."

What's next? With its win, Pleasanton moves on to face Tassajara Valley on Wednesday in a game that will decide who advances to the District 57 All Star Tournament Finals. Danville drops to the tournament’s elimination bracket and will play Tuesday.

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Pitching was the key for the 12-year-old Pleasanton National All-Star team in its 6-3 victory over Danville on Thursday in the District 57 All Star Tournament.

Starting pitcher James Cowick threw 11 strikeouts and only one walk in five innings, quieting a Danville offense that scored 17 runs in its last outing.

“Cowick is a great pitcher,” said Pleasanton coach Todd Norton. “He keeps his head, he throws hard pitches, and he places the ball well.”

Danville managed four hits off of Cowick but the team found it difficult to get any kind of offensive rhythm as batter after batter struck out to Cowick.

It was a different story for Danville’s starting pitcher Darroch Koel who initially struggled at the mound. Koel threw 49 pitches in the first inning alone, giving up three hits and three walks and allowing Pleasanton to take a 4-1 lead.

“Darroch (Koel) has an amazing ability to get the ball over the plate,” said Danville coach Mark Dawson. “He throws incredibly hard pitches, but he was missing his spots today.”

After reaching his pitch limit, Koel was replaced by Conner Redmond in the third. Despite giving up a two-run single to Bradley Norton, Redmond shut down the next eight consecutive batters.

But the change was too late to help Danville overcome Pleasanton’s lead. Though Pleasanton’s offense was not as productive as in its 13-0 win over Livermore on Sunday, the team’s first-inning runs provided enough of an advantage to get the win.

Coach Todd Norton attributed the success of the Pleasanton players largely to their chemistry. Most of the players have been all star teammates for three years, helping them to work well together.

“To have a team of guys that are not only great teammates but also great friends is fantastic, and I’m blessed to be the coach of that,” he said.

The match-up between Danville and Pleasanton was long anticipated.

In last year’s district tournament, Danville beat Pleasanton 4-0 and went on to the regional competition, but this time it’s Pleasanton that has cause to celebrate.

Norton said the players are happy with the win but realize that there is still a long road ahead to the district title.

Pleasanton’s next game is against Tassajara Valley, a team that has scored more than 10 runs in both of its last two games, on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Danville, now looking to fight its way back from the elimination bracket, will play Tuesday against either Granada or Dublin.

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Danville          1 1 0 0 1 0 - 3 5 1

Pleasanton National   4 0 2 0 0 X - 6 5 1

Danville (ab-r-h) Venezia 3-2-1, Koel 3-0-0, Redmond 3-0-1, Neswick 3-0-1, Bowman 3-1-0, Dawson 3-0-0, Ludwig 2-0-1, Lonestar 1-0-0, Banks 3-0-1, Batza 1-0-0, Bartnick 2-0-0; Totals 27-3-5.

Pleasanton National (ab-r-h) Norton 3-1-2, Cowick 3-1-0, Albanese 3-0-1, Chinn 3-1-0, Howell 3-0-0, Godi 3-0-0, Ibanez 2-0-0, Cassetti 2-0-1, Moroney 2-0-0, Zerio 1-0-0, Myers 1-2-0, Torquemada 1-1-1; Totals 27-6-5.

Pitching

Danville: Koel 2,1/3 IP, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 H, 4 K, 5 BB. 1 HBP; Redmond 2,2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 6 K, 0 BB.

Pleasanton National: Cowick 5 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 11 K, 1 BB, 2 HBP; Norton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 K, 0 BB.

Batting

2B - Neswick (D)
RBI – Neswick (D), 2 Norton (PN), Albanese (PN), Cassetti (PN)