The Turlock American All-Stars in the 10-to-11-year-old division of Area 2's California District 10 knew how to get their Little League game started on Monday, thanks to a run in the first inning that was backed up by solid pitching by Damon Treadwell before they held on to win 5-2 over the Los Banos American in front of a large crowd at Julien Field.

Turlock American will now face the Chowchilla All-Stars in Chowchilla at 7 p.m. today.

Treadwell finished with 10 strikeouts in nearly five innings, and teammate and leadoff hitter Marcus DeCouto was quite active and went 2-for-3 with a double and three runs scored. It was the kind of performance that had manager Nick Pryschuk grinning from ear-to-ear afterward.

“All the work we put in, it paid off on offense and defense,” he said. “We had one error today. For 11-year-olds, that's pretty rare. We put a lot of pride into our defense, and the hitting takes care of itself.”

It started with a 1-0 lead in the first, as DeCouto got on base with a double before scoring with an RBI single from Treadwell. Turlock American finished with two runs in the fourth and a run apiece in the fifth and sixth innings.

Other players contributed, too. Mitchell Pryschuk went 2-for-2 with two doubles, one RBI and one run scored. Tristan Palmer relieved for Treadwell in the fifth, finishing with a nice save and giving Turlock American its first win of the double-elimination All-Stars tournament.

“I feel like I got into a groove,” Treadwell said afterward. “After the first inning, I was feeling a little confident.”

To contact Chhun Sun, e-mail csun@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2041.