PA Babe Ruth 13s lose in NorCal tourney

The Palo Alto 13-year-old Babe Ruth all-star team will need to rip off three straight wins to capture the NorCal State Tournament and move on to next week’s Western Regionals in Utah.

Palo Alto, which had yielded just one run in its first two tournament games, lost to McKinleyville, 11-6, on Tuesday in Alameda. Palo Alto moves down to the losers’ bracket and

must survive tonight against Antioch, then win on Thursday and Friday to seize the NorCal crown.

Palo Alto went up 2-0 on McKinleyville in the first inning when BJ Boyd singled and scored

on a Robert Wickers’ RBI single. Wickers then scored on a wild pitch. McKinleyville tallied

seven runs in the second inning after Palo Alto gave up a pair of walks, a hit and three hit

batsmen.

Down 7-2, Palo Alto cut the margin to 7-4 as Freddy Avis stroked an RBI single and later

scored on a passed ball. McKinleyville iced the game with four runs in the fifth for an 11-4

lead. Palo Alto added two runs in the fifth on a Scott Kresie RBI single. Kresie later scored

on a passed ball.

Palo Alto came into the contest averaging 14 runs per game.