The kings of Little League baseball’s District 73 championship for the 8 to 10-year-old (10s) and 11-year-old (11s) age groups reside in Turlock, as the Turlock American Little League (TALL) All Stars won their respective tournaments last week.
Last Friday, both teams competed with the TALL 10s clinching their District title at Julien Field after a hard fought 4-1 win over the Atwater All Stars, while the TALL 11s took down Los Banos Little League 8-3.
The victories secure each team a spot in the Section 6 tournament, which gets underway this weekend.
10s Recap
The TALL 10s team grabbed the lead in the very first inning against Atwater and never looked back. It was started by Nate Alahverdi, who singled in Oliver Bruerton to make it 1-0. Bruerton was an on-base machine, reaching base in all three plate appearances through two hits and a walk and scoring twice. Also driving in a run at the plate was Kellen Allaire, whose sacrifice scored Hudson Borges. Borges reached base twice in the game with two walks.
On the bump, Arellano tossed a complete game in the six-inning matchup, allowing just the one run on four hits and one walk while striking out three.
“The boys proved they can win the close games which is going to be more important as we move forward into Sections,” said head coach Brian Fowlkes. “[The] boys were determined to defend their home field.”
Fowlkes also acknowledged the fact that the team lost the first game of the tournament against Los Banos on June 30 by a 5-2 score.
“I was really proud to see the boy’s energy and level of play improve with each game especially after losing our first game of the tournament and the boys only being 10.,” he added. “Everyone knows this team is talented, but to perform in the face of adversity like they did I couldn’t be more pleased.”
The 10s will get underway in their Section 6 tournament when they take on District 15 champion Amador West on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Julien Field in Turlock.
11s Recap
In the TALL 11s’ 8-3 victory over Los Banos, the scoring frenzy helped catapult starting pitcher Chase Waterson to a win.
While there were several offensive contributors, Case Allaire and Benji Delgadillo led the way for the team at the plate, each driving in a run while going 2 for 2.
As for Waterson, he went 3 2/3 innings while allowing two earned runs and striking out four. Isaiah Gonzalez came on in relief and got the save after tossing 2 1/3 innings while allowing one earned run and striking out five.
“The boys played a strong tournament and took the District 73 title,” said head coach Tom Waterson. “It was an absolute team effort throughout the entire tournament, and I am proud of the way the team played.”
Since they won all four of their games in the District 73 tournament, the 11s have been awarded a first round bye for the Section 6 tournament. While games for this particular bracket get underway on Thursday, the Turlock team will be seeing their first Section action on Sunday. They await the winner of Saturday’s matchup between Ripon and Delta-Sunrise.
The 11s Section 6 tournament is taking place at Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Stockton. First pitch for Sunday’s game is scheduled for 7 p.m.
