Little League: M-A all-stars finish second in District 52 tournament Little League: M-A all-stars finish second in District 52 tournament (July 27, 2005)

The Menlo-Atherton Little League 12-year-old all-stars had their best season ever -- finishing second in the recent District 52 baseball tournament.

M-A played in seven games and won five, beating all-stars from these leagues: Foster City, Palo Alto Nationals, Alpine/West Menlo, Palo Alto American, and San Mateo American.

M-A lost twice to Hillsborough, including by a score of 7-1 in the July 13 championship game at Ortega Field in Pacifica.

M-A draws its all-stars from only a 72-player roster on six teams, and therefore is considered an underdog in the tournament. In the past, M-A played only three to four games in the double-elimination tournament and placed about 10th out of 17 teams.
Game by game

With ace Austin Hume pitching, M-A defeated Foster City 12-4 in the first game on June 30. M-A bats were hot as Ryan Chilcoat and Ryan DeGregorio hit home runs. Strong pitching and error-free defense kept Foster City bats cold.

Then M-A edged Palo Alto National 5-4 on July 2. Hunter Shaw and Chace Warren shared pitching duties. Ryan Chilcoat and Austin Hume each provided a two-run home run.

In the third game on July 7, M-A took on their cross-town rivals, Alpine/West Menlo, and won 14-5. M-A bats came alive with runs scored in each inning. Ryan Chilcoat hit two home runs and Austin Hume shut down Alpine's bats.

(Last year, Alpine beat M-A, knocking it into the consolation bracket. Alpine went on to the 2004 championship game, losing to San Mateo National.)

M-A then took on Palo Alto American on July 9 and pulled out a 5-4 victory in a seven-inning game. In the bottom of the sixth, Michael Abramson clinched the victory by stealing home on a missed cut-off throw from center field. Hunter Shaw, Chace Warren and Ryan Chilcoat shared pitching duties for M-A.

In the semi-finals, M-A lost to Hillsborough 10-6 on July 12. Austin Hume pitched for M-A. (Hillsborough was the defending champion last year with its 11-year-old all-star team.)

The next day in the consolation bracket, M-A won 8-6 against the strong-hitting San Mateo American team. Hunter Shaw, Ryan Chilcoat and Chace Warren shared pitching duties. In the top of the sixth, with the score tied 5-5, M-A broke the game open with three runs. (This San Mateo team was the same group of players that had taken a 9/10-year-old all-star team to the state finals two years ago.)
@state:Title game

In the championship game, MA's Chace Warren took on Hillsborough's ace Tyler Goeddel, who gave up only his second run of the season in the 7-1 Hillsborough victory.

Warren went five strong innings and had eight strikeouts. M-A Manager Vince Sakowski said Warren made only one bad pitch and that turned into a three-run home run by Dean Ferrari. Warren came back to strike out the next three hitters.

Hillsborough's ace gave up five hits: doubles to Austin Hume and Tommy Cummings, a single to Michael Abramson, and two singles to Casey Eason.

-- Report by Chandler Eason, coach, M-A All-Stars

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