Saturday, June 27, 2009

Game #1 - Novato American vs. Novato South

The 2009 Novato American 12 Year-Old All-Stars

Carrie took photos today at my son's Novato American Little League 12 Year-old All-Stars Game #1 against cross-town rival Novato South. It's always great to get shots of the boys playing ball so we've made the entire set of photos available on Shutterfly. Check them out if you are interested.

Game Summary

Novato American won the coin flip and elected to be the home team, giving us the cooler dugout and sideline for our fans
. Evan Bernardy pitched well in the first, giving up a hit to the leadoff hitter, but then getting a groundout and two strikeouts. Novato American got a leadoff single by Miquel Deldago, but followed it with three strike-outs so the game was knotted at 0-0 after the first.

The second through fourth inning were much the same: a pitchers duel. Bernardy battled with the South's Paul Kunst, neither giving an inch until the fifth.

The South side stuck first in the fifth after a couple of walks leading to a 12-pitch confrontation with Danny Dreher. Danny worked his way to a sacrifice grounder to second baseman Frankie Calcaterra, scoring Ricky Clary on the throw to first. South up 1-0.

The American side came roaring back in the bottom of the inning. Brian Bledsoe walked to lead off the inning followed by two quick outs. Calcaterra, in his first at-bat of the All-Star season, then crunched a two-run home-run to left for a 2-1 lead.

The South pushed back to the lead with two in the top of the sixth. Kunst's lead off with a single and was promptly scored on a double to left-center by Jason Rodriguez. After a passed ball, Rodriquez scored on a sacrifice grounder to first by Clary for a 3-2 lead.

The American side made the most of the bottom of the inning. Marcus Chiu lead off by getting hit by a pitch followed by a walk to #4 batter Tyler Torres. Bernardy drove in Chiu with a single to tie the game. Robbie Cassee's walk loaded the bases with no outs and things were looking good. After a strikeout to the next batter, Ryan Fong hung tough in his at-bat and worked his way to a 3-2 count. The sixth pitch was low and in the dirt. Ryan swung and was out on strikes, but the ball continued past the catcher enabling Torres to score from third. In Fong's understated words, "it's the first time I've ever had a walk-off strikeout" for a win!

Final Score: Novato American 4, Novato South 3


Here's a couple of highlight shots from the game.

Starting picher Evan Bernardy throwing some heat!

Ryan Fong during his now famous "walk-off strikeout" for the win!

Novato American and South players congratulate each other following the game

Cheers! - Jason

No comments: