The Turlock National All-Stars came up short for the second time on Tuesday, losing a close 4-3 game against the Lakeside All-Stars in the 12-year-old Northern California Divisional All-Star Tournament. Turlock bounced back with a competitive six innings against Lakeside after a crushing 17-0 defeat to the Petaluma All-Stars in the first round of the tournament.

“They’re a great group of kids and I’m really pleased with how they played,” National head coach John Garcia said.

Both Turlock and Lakeside went scoreless through three innings as ace Anthony Encalade manned the hill. The offenses came alive in the fourth inning, however, as Turlock’s Bobby Martinez hit in a run before Lakeside responded with two of their own.

Encalade hit in the tying run in the top of the fifth but Lakeside answered back with two more runs for a two point lead. Just as it had in the game against Petaluma National, Turlock’s defense began to falter in the late innings.

“It’s that ripple effect in baseball,” Garcia said. ”We just had trouble getting out of the innings.”

Garett Lema stepped up and hit Turlock’s third run in the top of the sixth but the offense failed to produce much more after that. With one out, Turlock had runners on second and third base but couldn’t find a way to bring them home.

“I know they’re disappointed with the loss but I know when they look back they’ll be pleased with how far they came,” Garcia said.