A new Palo Alto Little League champ likely A new Palo Alto Little League champ likely (June 08, 2005)

Two-time defending champion Edwards Luggage knocked into the consolation bracket

by Keith Peters

Barring major upsets, the Palo Alto Little League Majors City Tournament should have a new champion this weekend.

Defending champion Edwards Luggage was knocked into the consolation bracket with a 9-6 loss to Bike Connection on Sunday at Middlefield Park. In order for Edwards Luggage to defend, it would have to win four straight games over five days.

Bike Connection and In2Change are the only remaining undefeated teams following their victories Sunday. They were scheduled to meet Tuesday at Middlefield Park at 5:30 p.m., to decide who takes control of the tournament.

The winner of Tuesday's showdown will advance to Thursday's winners'-bracket finals, and has to be beaten twice in order to lose the city crown.

Bike Connection knocked out 15 hits to beat two-time defending champion Edwards Luggage. Pedro Robinson was the hitting star for Bike Connection with two home runs. Jack Smale, Sam Maliska, Jake Stern and Jack Witte all added two hits for the winners, while Freddy Avis led Edwards with a home run and double.

In the other winners'- bracket game Sunday, In2Change won a thriller over Alhouse Realty, 9-7. Graham Marchant recorded a strikeout with the winning run at the plate to end the game. James Huber, Jordan Piha, and Grant Shorin led the winners at the plate with two hits each. Evan Coutre, Christoph Bono, Toby Weber, and Charlie Jones all had multi-hit games for Alhouse.

In the losers' bracket, PASCO eliminated Hagemann 6-3, LPM bounced Palo Alto Partners 7-0, and Sport Shop knocked Hengehold out of the tourney with a 14-7 win.

Notable performances for PASCO included a home run by Austin Braff, a triple by Conner Raftery, three hits by Peter Verheecke, and two hits by Alistair Thompson.

Drake Swezey and Alex Wong had multiple-hit games for Hagemann.

LPM used excellent pitching to subdue the Partners with Jake Verhulp and Nick Hall combining to throw a no-hitter.

Jack Hannan led the Sport Shop with two hits while Christian Lonsky added a double. For Hengehold, Scott Kresie and BJ Boyd had multiple-hit games.

On Friday, Edwards Luggage opened tournament play with a 10-0 win over the Lions Club. Steven Kerr and Freddy Avis combined for a sparkling one-hitter, while Austin Smith and William Chandler each had three hits in three at-bats.

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