Little League All Stars: San Ramon 12s Win District 57 Title

The Star: San Ramon's Mikey Pangelinan, who went 2 for 3 with a two-run homer, scored two runs and had a pair of RBIs.

The Turning Point: Pangelinan's two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth that gave San Ramon a 6-5 lead it wouldn't relinquish.

The Quote: "This is super special," San Ramon coach Dave Jew said. "Our team is a team, they get it."

What's next? Section 3 Tournament hosted by Mission San Jose (District 14) July 17-22.

Bottom Line: San Ramon had an answer for everything Danville threw at it.

———————————

Mikey Pangelinan has been on a tear throughout the District 57 11-12 year-old All-Stars tournament at Osage Park.

On Wednesday, in the championship game against Danville, the San Ramon star delivered one of, if not, the biggest hit of his young baseball career.

With San Ramon down 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Pangelinan crushed a two-run homer to centerfield that gave his team a 6-5 lead, a lead it held on to the rest of the way in a 7-6 victory.

"I was looking to hit the ball and move the runner over," Pangelinan said. "I wasn't trying to hit a home run."

Pangelinan got a fastball low and in and got the meat of the bat on the ball as it sailed way over the fence.

"I saw the ball fly out there and thought maybe it was out," Pangelinan said.

The home run capped a 2 for 3 effort which included a pair of RBIs and two runs scored. Teammate Tommy Jew, the leadoff hitter, went 2 for 2 and scored a trio of runs. Rocky Moore, who hit a grand slam two days ago in an 11-0 win over Pleasanton American, went 2 for 3 and added a solo home run in the second inning.

With the win, San Ramon wins the District 57 title and advances to the Section 3 Tournament which will be hosted by Mission San Jose (District 14) on July 17-22.

"I'm going to give these guys a one to two much-needed days off," San Ramon coach Dave Jew said. "They need to spend some time with their families."

That time off comes after some very hard work. San Ramon outlasted 12 other teams in the double-elimination tournament. It went 4-0 that included a 6-3 win over Danville on June 30.

"This feels great," Pangelinan said. "We played a good game. It was so back and forth."

It was a back and forth contest that included four lead changes.

San Ramon took the first lead of the game, 1-0, in the bottom of the first when Jew, who reached on a single, scored on a wild pitch.

The lead was short-lived though as Danville struck for a pair of runs in the top of the second for a 2-1 lead.

San Ramon answered with a trio of runs in its half of the frame. Moore led the inning off with a home run to center. And six batters later, with two outs, Devin Rocha delivered a single to left that scored Jew and Pangelinan for a 3-2 lead.

Danville again battled back with two more runs in the top of the third tie the game at 4-4. It then took a 5-4 lead in the top of the fifth after holding San Ramon scoreless in the bottom of the third.

That set the stage for Pangelinan whose home run came at a time San Ramon was thirsting for a big hit.

"He's been unbelievable in this tournament," Jew said. "He's hit like .700-something."

San Ramon added a monster insurance run in the fifth when Grant Mendoza hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Jack Gerlach, who earlier doubled.

———————————

San Ramon 7, Danville 6

Danville       022 101 – 6 8 1

San Ramon 130 21x -  7 9 2

Danville (ab-r-h) — Spears 4-1-3, Maroney 4-0-0, Murphy 4-1-0, Vranesh 2-0-2, Hughes 1-2-0, Polosky 3-0-0, Matulovich 1-0-0, Tennant 2-1-1, Barcellona 0-0-0, Whitten 1-0-0, Moore 3-1-1, Lloyd 2-0-1. Totals 27-6-8.

San Ramon (ab-r-h) — Jew 2-3-2, Pangelinan 3-2-2, Ackerman 2-0-1, Rocha 3-0-1, Ramirez 3-0-0, Gilfillan 1-0-0, Bagnall 1-0-0, Gerlach 1-1-1, Moore 3-1-2, Mendoza 2-0-0, Holden 2-0-0, Caston 1-0-0. Totals 24-7-9.

Pitching

Polosky: 4 ip, 6 h, 6 r, 6 er, 4 bb, 6 k; Tennant: 1 ip, 3 h, 1 r, 1 er, 0 bb, 1 k.

Rocha: 2 2/3, 5 h, 4 r, 3 er, 4 bb, 5 k; Mendoza: 3 1/3 ip, 3 h, 2 r, 1 er, 0 bb, 2 k, .

Hitting

RBIs — Spears 3, Rocha 2, Pangelinan 2, Moore, Tennant, Lloyd, Vranesh, Mendoza, Holden. 2B — Tennant, Gerlach. HR — Moore (Top 2, 0 out, 0 on), Pangelinan (Bottom 4, 0 out, 1 on), Spears (Top 6, 0 out, 0 on).