Issue date: September 01, 1999
Pitchers Peter Hogue and Domenic Di Ricco, two four-year players for Morey's of the Alpine/West Menlo Little League, helped their rival San Carlos All Stars win the recent Cooperstown DreamsPark (age 11-12) tournament, held in Cooperstown, New York, and sponsored by the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame.
San Carlos could only field eight of its all-star players to make the trip to Cooperstown. The team held tryouts, and Hogue, Di Ricco, and Matt Wulf of the Belmont All Stars made the team and the trip.
Wulf hit 11 home runs in the series, including one in the championship game, when San Carlos beat the top-seeded Palm Beach Thrillers out of Florida, 3-0. The Florida team had selected its players from a tryout of 1,500 players.
A total of 48 Little League and tournament teams competed in the Cooperstown tournament. Three teams, including San Carlos, represented California. Each team played seven preliminary games to determine seeding for a single-elimination, 48-team tournament.
San Carlos and four other teams had 7-0 records. Based on their record and runs allowed, San Carlos was seeded second in the single-elimination tournament, held August 7-13.
Pitchers Hogue and Di Ricco contributed to San Carlos going 12-0 in the tournament. Hogue was 2-0, allowing only four hits and one run while striking out 16. In the first game, Hogue had a perfect game until the fifth inning. Di Ricco was 1-0, allowing two hits and no runs while striking out five.
It was ironic that Hogue and Di Ricco should help San Carlos win the Cooperstown tourney. In July, Hogue and Di Ricco were instrumental in Alpine's defeat of San Carlos to win the California District 52 (age 11-12) Little League Championship. Hogue pitched a masterpiece 2-1 win with 11 strikeouts, while Di Ricco singled and scored the winning run.
In the Cooperstown championship game before 2,500 people August 13, Daniel Descalso, the San Carlos ace, had a perfect game until two were out in the fifth inning. He struck out 11 Palm Beach batters in the 3-0 San Carlos victory, and allowed only one single and base runner the game.
Alpine did not have to face Descalso during the District 52 tournament. Both Hogue and Di Ricco agreed the result might have been different. "We're glad to be playing with him rather than against him," said Hogue.
The San Carlos All-Stars were coached by George Descalso, Bill Bauer, and Mike Rosa.
This report is by Ed Mitchell, coach of the Morey's team in the Alpine league.
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