What it lacked in the hit column, Santa Rosa compensated with timeliness at the Capitol Classic on Saturday.
Santa Rosa, Calif., was limited to four hits, but three of those came during a five-run sixth inning rally as the Northern California club came from behind to pull out a 5-4 victory against Cherry Creek, Colo.
The win boosted Santa Rosa to 5-0 for the week and remained on top of the race for first-place in the Grey Division and a berth in tonight's championship game.
Santa Rosa plays this afternoon at 4 p.m. against Austin, Texas. Santa Rosa can clinch first-place by winning, but Austin (4-1) can advance to the final by winning by four runs or more. Parma of Ohio (4-1) could also advance if Austin wins by one or two runs.
On Saturday, Cherry Creek scored once to take a 4-0 lead in the top of the sixth inning. Then Santa Rosa's bats came to life against David Andrews, who had thrown one-hit ball through six.
Dan Mocknec walked to lead off the rally, Craig Kessler singled, Matt Raichart singled home a run and Brian Hanson followed with a two-run double. Hanson was named the game MVP.
Erik McReynolds pitched six innings to earn the win, and Reed McMains came on to pitch a scoreless seventh for the save.
Cherry Creek (1-4) was led by Matt Bransfield, who hit 3-for-3 with a double.
DANVILLE 9, ST. LOUIS 3
Matt Brown pitched a complete game five-hitter, struck out 10 and walked one as the Hoots beat the Eagles (1-4) to improve their tournament record to 4-1.
Danville, the 1999 California state American Legion champion, scored five runs in the fifth inning to take a 7-1 lead.
Game MVP Zach Barter hit 3-for-4 with a home run, double and three RBIs for the Hoots.
Tony Lozano hit a solo home run in the third inning and Matt Sauer added a two-run shot in the sixth for the St. Louis Eagles.
AUSTIN 5, BOISE 4
Clayton Turner singled and scored in the bottom of the sixth to break a 4-4 tie, then Lee Wilson came on to slam the door shut in the top of the seventh as Austin (4-1) preserved the victory.
Rick Egan pitched 5-1/3 innings, struck out four and walked one, to earn his second tournament win. Wilson came on with two outs and two runners aboard in the top of the seventh and induced a ground ball to Dustin Werneke at shortstop to end the game.
Game MVP Dan Maha hit 3-for-3 with an RBI double in the third inning to lead Austin's 10-hit attack. Jason Pickett went 2-for-3 with a double, while Rob Gill and Justin Bradberry collected two hits each for the Gems (1-4).
PARMA 14, CARMEL 7
Chad Frk, who will be a freshman at the University of Illinois in the fall, went 3-for-5 with a home run and two doubles to earn the game MVP award and help Parma improve its tournament record to 4-1.
Parma scored four runs in the first inning then added two more runs in the second to take an early 6-0 lead. That was more than enough support for Grant Relic, who struck out seven and walked two over six innings.
Josh Gaub hit 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs and Jason Newcomb was 2-for-4 with one RBI. Brian Canada homered and drove in four runs for the Bulls (1-4), while R.J. Sanfrey hit a home run with two RBIs.
HONOLULU 6, OGDEN 0
Brandon League, a 3-0 victim at the hands of the Carson Capitols on Tuesday, scattered four hits and struck out nine to pick up his own shutout victory.
Skip Saito singled and Milton Grado homered to give the All-Hawaii Select club a 2-0 lead to start the game.
Ogden had six base runners in the first three innings, but was unable to score. League retired 10 batters on ground balls.
Dan Stitt hit 3-for-3 with two doubles for the Ogden Outlaws.