American 11/12s take District 9 with 7-4 victory on Sunday;
National 9/10s defeat American, 8/9s claim Hartnell
Invitational
SALINAS
Connor Fabing and Zack Moeller’s six-hit, four-run pitching performance in the District 9 Major All-Star Tournament championship on Sunday may have lacked the glamour of last year’s no-hitter by Chris Manderson, but it certainly wasn’t short on grit.
“The difference was pitching,” American coach Jack Starke said.
In a none-too-surprising turn of events, Hollister American and Hollister National met up for the D-9 championship on Sunday at Hartnell Little League in Salinas, and it was American’s hurlers atop the hill that may have provided the boys in red with an edge in the end.
Behind the starter Fabing’s four and 2/3 innings, in which he scattered six hits and allowed three earned runs, and the reliever Moeller’s one and 1/3 inning of shutout, no-hit baseball, American staved off National’s best efforts with a 7-4 victory on Sunday to advance to the Section 5 All-Star Tournament this weekend.
While Moeller slammed the door to earn the game’s final four outs – “It gets a little nervous,” he said, “but after a while you stop thinking about it and just pitch” – Fabing went the pitch-count distance, tossing 89 balls en route to the three-run victory.
“We hit the ball a little more,” said Fabing, commenting on the difference from Thursday’s semifinal. “The pitching was good, but the defense backed us up and made the plays when needed.”
It was American’s second straight win over National in as many games – the only team in District 9 to supply American with a challenge. Hollister American went 5-0 and outscored its opponents by a 68-14 margin, but narrowly escaped with a 7-6 win during Thursday’s semifinal round that forced National to play an extra game on Friday against Soledad in the elimination bracket.
National won its elimination game with considerable ease, 21-5, setting up Sunday’s showdown in Salinas between a pair of teams from Hollister.
“It’s disappointing because we really wanted to play an extra game,” National third baseman Hunter Haworth said. “But Hollister American came out on top. They tried their hardest. So did we, but they came out on top.
“We just didn’t hit the ball today, and their hits found holes.”
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National did manage to grab a 2-0 lead in the home half of the first when Riley Lange and Haworth delivered fielder’s choice groundouts that scored Andrew Sotelo and Andrew Breen, respectively. But American answered right back in the following frame when Conner Starke drove a 1-1 offering over the left-center field fence for a three-run homer, and a 3-2 American lead.
Starke, who had four RBI on the day, said he doesn’t consider himself a power hitter, although his second-inning blast on Sunday was the 10th home run of his short career.
“They hit the ball today,” National manager Mark Haworth said. “They played well and we played well. We just didn’t get the hits to win.”
With runners on the corners in the second, National’s Andrew Breen knotted the game at 3-all when his hard-hit grounder resulted in a fielding error, and allowed teammate Garret Kelly to score from third. However, American took the lead for good in the fourth when Fabing bounced a high chopper into left field that plated Starke from third base, giving the red hats a 4-3 lead.
“We played well,” Haworth said. “We just didn’t get the hits to win.”
American cushioned its margin when Josh Tonascia bounced a double off the warning track in left-center field that allowed Moeller to score from first base following a National throwing error, while Tonascia would later score after Starke trailed with a bloop single to left field.
“We played pretty good today,” said the National’s Riley Lange, who brought the boys in blue to within a 6-4 margin after his RBI double in the fifth scored Andrew Breen from third base. “But the pitching was the difference and we didn’t hit the ball as good as last time.”
Tony Amaral, meanwhile, drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth that scored Troy Ocampo, supplying an inspired American bunch with a comfortable 7-4 lead.
“Not having our manager here gave us some added motivation,” said American’s Conner Starke.
Without its manager Robert Fabing, American was shorthanded in the dugout, and even called upon the players themselves to act as base coaches.
During Thursday’s game against National, Fabing said he tried to protest a controversial call with the home-plate umpire in the sixth inning. He was unable to protest the call, he said, and was instead ejected from the field by a nearby field umpire after several requests had failed.
“The intent of the protest is to get the ball right,” Fabing said by phone on Monday. “My rights were violated because I wasn’t able to protest (the call).”
Fabing was suspended from Sunday’s game as a result, but he did send a letter to the team’s practice on Saturday.
“It gave us inspiration to win it for him,” said American’s Cameron Brann. “He said everything would be okay and that he was proud of us. It made us feel confident in ourselves.”
Said Fabing, “Under the circumstances, Jack Starke did an outstanding job with the team … getting them to win.”
American 10-11
The Hollister American 10- and 11-year-old All-Stars lost Game 2 of its championship final in the District 9 All-Star Tournament on Sunday.
Emerging from the elimination bracket, Hollister American defeated Hartnell 14-0 in Game 1. In a winner-take-all second game, though, Hartnell returned the favor and outlasted Hollister 5-4 to claim the D-9 title.
National 9-10
The Hollister National 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars defeated Hollister American 9-4 in the District 9 All-Star Tournament final on Saturday. Although Hollister American forced a second game when it defeated National 16-6 in Game 1 on Friday, it was unable to take the championship with consecutive victories.
National 8-9
The Hollister National 8- and 9-year-old All-Stars won its championship final 9-4 last week at the 9U Hartnell Invitational. Hollister National won seven straight games to earn the title.
