Game #4 - Novato American vs. Ross Valley

Tonight, I took photos at my son's Novato American Little League 12 Year-old All-Stars Game #4 against another cross-county team, Ross Valley. Once more, a great night taking pictures at the ballpark, this time at Bacich in Larkspur.

As with the previous games, the entire set of photos is available on Shutterfly, so check them out if you are interested.

Game Summary

Novato American won the coin flip and the home side of the field. The game started as a pitchers duel with Evan Bernardy for Novato American and Adam Hussain for Ross Valley each holding the other in check for the first two innings.

Ross Valley scored first by pushing across two runners on wild pitches. Hussain held Novato American scoreless again in the bottom of the inning, so after three, Ross Valley was up 2-0.

Ross Valley pushed across two more in the top of the fourth to go up 4-0, but Novato had the heart of its order coming up in the bottom of the inning. Following a single by Dylan Wheaton, Marcus Chiu crunched a two-run "no-doubt" home-run to right center. With one out, Bernardy singled and moved to second on a passed ball. Tyler Torres then drove a double to the fence in left-center scoring Bernardy. After the end of the fourth, Ross Valley lead 4-3.

In the top of the fifth, Ross Valley eeked out one more to go up 5-3. Not to be outdone, Novato tied the game on another Wheaton-Chiu single and home-run combo. This time, Chiu's drive went even further to center. A monster shot that made it 5-5 at the end of five.

Crit Rudkin came in to pitch the sixth and, after loading the bases on a couple of errors and a walk, took control of the inning, and the game. He struck out the side, leaving all three runners stranded bringing up Novato American for another shot at a win.

And things started off fast when Torres smoked one to right that worked it to the fence, leaving him standing on second. Presumably, Ross Valley intended to walk Rudkin next to put runners on first and second and leave a force play at first, second or third. But during the intentional pass, Crit swung at one of the intentional balls and Ross Valley decided to pitch to him. The next pitch got away from the catcher and Torres ended up on third. With a 3-1 count, Ross Valley pulled-in the outfield to try to make the play at the plate. After a second strike, Crit got hold of a fastball on the full-count and hit it over the pulled-in outfield to the left-field fence. Torres scored easily on the walk-off single with no outs. So, not only did Rudkin get the game-winning hit, but he made himself the winning pitcher at the same time. Not a bad way to end the day.

Final Score: Novato American 6, Ross Valley 5

Here are a few highlight shots from the game.

Marcus Chiu (22) being congratulated by his teammates following his first two-run homer of the game in the fourth inning.

Tyler Torres (18) slides safely into second with his second double of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, setting up the winning score.

Crit Rudkin (55) driving a 3-2 pitch to the left-field fence for a walk-off, run scoring single to win the game. Since he was the relief pitcher in the top of the inning, his hit also made him the game winning pitcher. Nice day's work!

Cheers! - Jason