Publication Date: Friday, July 01, 2005
BASEBALL ROUNDUP
Patience rewarded with title
Patience rewarded with title
(July 01, 2005) Anderson Honda's 15s win their first Babe Ruth crown
by Keith Peters
The 15-year olds on Anderson Honda had extra reason to celebrate their Palo Alto Babe Ruth City Tournament championship on Wednesday night.
As 13-year olds, they struggled to a 7-11 record and seventh-place finish during the 2003 season and failed to make the playoffs. As 14-year olds, they were even worse - going 6-12 during the campaign and tying for eighth. Playoffs? Forget it.
After missing out the past two years, the veterans on Anderson Honda finally were rewarded. That came in the form of a 2-1 victory over regular-season champion Thomas Transfer in the title game at Baylands Athletic Center.
Two of Anderson's 15-year olds, Trevor Lothrop and Anthony Giraudo, made sure there would be no more disappointments with game-deciding performances in the finals.
Lothrop drew a leadoff walk in the first inning, stole second, moved to third on an infield hit by Dustin Cottrell and scored the game's first run on a wild pitch.
With the game tied, 1-1 in the top of the seventh, Lothrop again came through. He led off with a booming triple to left-center. After a strikeout, Lothrop lumbered home when reliever Eric Davila's pitch bounced in the dirt past catcher Michael Masket.
"As soon as I saw the ball get away from the catcher, I took off," Lothrop related. "I was determined to score."
Equally determined was Giraudo. The big right-hander held Thomas Transfer in check with a fine five-hitter, giving up one walk and hitting one batter. He gave up an unearned run in the fourth, but escaped a potentially big inning for Thomas Transfer by inducing pinch-hitter Tim Romley to ground out to third with the bases loaded.
In the bottom of the fifth, Tyler Hoffmeister reached base on an infield single off Giraudo, but was gunned down trying to steal by Cottrell. In the bottom of the sixth, Davila was hit by a pitch and Masket singled. With two out, Kevin Lamb ripped a liner to left center that appeared headed for extra bases until Lothrop chased it down for the final out.
It was that kind of game, with both teams threatening and both putting out fires.
For Giraudo, pitching the complete-game victory more than made up for shoulder surgery last summer and mononucleosis this season. He beat Thomas Transfer on June 20 with a six-hit shutout and allowed only the one unearned run against the regular-season champs in 14 innings.
Thomas Transfer starter Tony Piha was nearly as effective, despite pitching with a fractured thumb on his non-throwing left hand. He allowed just four hits over six innings, getting out of a jam in the fifth when Anderson Honda loaded the bases. With two outs, Piha went to a full count against Jeffrey Thomas before ending the threat with a strikeout.
While the fractured thumb didn't hurt Piha's pitching, he couldn't swing a bat. That hurt the Tigers' offense, as Piha was one of the team's more productive hitter during the season.
In addition to Lothrop, Giraudo and Cottrell, shortstop Tyger Pederson stood out defensively. Other members of the championship team included George Holland, Alex Borsos, Steven Gargiulo, Matt Page, Jake Cottrell, Matt Gargiulo, Joc Pederson, and Michael Shimono.
Thomas Transfer, which lost its first game of the city tournament, reached the championship game following a 6-2 victory over defending champ Menlo Park Chevron on Tuesday. Neal Ketchum went 6 2/3 innings and allowed just two hits and the two runs to pick up the victory. Davila and Masket each had two hits for Thomas Transfer, which got contributions from Sam Knapp, Robbie Heeger, Brennan Kurtela, Ryan Jones and Romley.
That put the Tigers into the finals, having to beat Anderson Honda twice. Those 15-year olds, however, had something to say about that.
Wednesday's game marked the final one for Thomas Transfer assistant Terry Tadlock, who is retiring after more than 10 years with the team.
"Terry has meant so much to the team and to the many kids who have played on this team over the years," said Thomas Transfer manager Rick Farr. "He will be dearly missed."
With the completion of the regular season, the District 6 all-star tournaments get under way beginning Saturday with the 15s taking center stage at the Belmont Sports Complex. Palo Alto opens against Mountain View at 2:30 p.m. A victory means a game Sunday at the same time against the Belmont-San Mateo winner. The championship game is Tuesday at 6 p.m., with a challenge game (if necessary) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Palo Alto will host the 14s at Baylands, starting Tuesday with the host team taking on Mountain View at 6 p.m. The 13-year olds open Monday against host Mountain View at McKelvey Park at 6 p.m.
Little League
The annual Menlo Park City Championships will be held Monday at Burgess Park at 10 a.m. Alpine champ Hengehold will take on Menlo-Atherton champ Lutticken's in the Fourth of July title-decider.
In the District 52 9-10 all-star tournament at Highlands Park in San Carlos, Palo Alto National and Menlo-Atherton will meet Sunday in a second-round winners'-bracket game at 2:30 p.m.
Menlo-Atherton opened with a victory over Pacifica National while Palo Alto National advanced with an 18-0 romp over Redwood City American. Palo Alto American lost to Belmont/Redwood Shores and fell into Saturday's consolation-bracket game against Pacifica American at 2 p.m.
Palo Alto National, meanwhile, scored 13 runs on 11 hits in the first inning against Redwood City American while sending 17 batters to the plate.
Palo Alto finished with 16 hits as Clay Carey had three. Kirby Gee, Maty Erstad, Jimmy Smale, Michael Strong, Nick Wells, Ryan Deslauriers and James Foug all had two hits.
David Oyer, Kevin Tracy, Erstad and Carey combined for a one-hit shutout.
In the District 52 11-12 and 11s all-star tournaments in Pacifica, Palo Alto will be trying something new for the first time. In the 11-12 tournament at Ortega School, Palo Alto's two teams will have rosters filled with only 12-year olds. All the top 11-year-old all-stars will play in the 11s tourney at Fairway Park.
The idea is to allow more 12-year olds to compete while strengthening already strong 11-year-old squads.
The Palo Alto National 11s will feature all but three players off last season's 9-10 squad that reached the finals of the Northern California Division 2 Tournament. The PA Nationals put together a 16-3 season that featured 17 home runs. Greg Avis, who coached that successful 9-10 team, returns to coach the 11s. They open Saturday against Redwood City American at 11:30 a.m.
College
Palo Alto High graduate David Stringer was named Pitcher of the Week in the Southern Division of the Valley Baseball League while playing for Woodstock.
Stringer, who redshirted his freshman year at Stanford in 2004-05, made three relief appearances last week -- going 2-0 with no runs allowed in 7 2/3 innings. Stringer allowed one hit and struck out six in 2 2/3 innings in an 11-9 win over Haymarket on June 21. He then struck out four and surrendered one hit in two innings of a 9-2 win over Staunton on June 23. He closed the week last Saturday with three innings of one-hit ball and two strikeouts in a 4-3 win over Waynesboro.
For the week, Stringer was fourth in the VBL in opposing batting average (.120), fourth in strikeouts (12), and tied for first in wins (two). The VBL is an NCAA-sanctioned wooden bat league in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.
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