Crescenta Valley All-Stars geared up for new tests

It’s now down to two local Little League District 16 baseball teams left competing on the diamond.

The Crescenta Valley Junior and 9-10 squads are back at work preparing for the next round in each of their postseason tournaments.

Both squads will be put to the test when they begin their upcoming tournaments Saturday.

The Junior team will meet the Section 3 champion in the Division 3 North Tournament at 10 a.m. at St. Bonaventure High in Ventura and the 9-10 program will compete at 1:30 p.m. against District 51-champion Quartz Hill in a Section 2 contest at Montrose Park.

The Junior squad, coached by Bryan Rich, captured the Section 2 championship on Tuesday with a lopsided 17-2 win against Northridge in five innings at Tujunga Little League Fields. Crescenta Valley’s 9-10 team won the District 16 crown Saturday with a 9-3 victory versus Jewel City/Jewish War Veterans-Tujunga at Tujunga.

“I think our players have a lot of confidence,” Rich said. “They are not a stressed out group, so they go out there and handle themselves well.

“We have a pretty young team with just three players who have any high school experience. We’ve been hitting very well and we’ll have to continue pitching great to have a chance.”

Crescenta Valley scored 11 runs in the third inning in the title game. Crescenta Valley received a big offensive effort from Vince Parrott (two hits and three runs batted in). In addition, starting pitcher Brian Harley went 4 1/3 innings, struck out five and yielded two runs on five hits.

Crescenta Valley put up some impressive offensive efforts throughout the Section 2 Tournament. It scored 37 runs, averaging 12.3 per contest.

“We know we’ll be up against some good teams in the next tournament,” said Rich, a Crescenta Valley High graduate.

The five-team tournament, hosted by Santa Paula Little League, will also feature teams from sections 1,4 and 5. The championship contest will be held at noon July 23 at Santa Paula Little League Fields and a winner-take-all game would begin at noon July 24 at the same venue.

The winner will move on to the Southern California State Championship, which will be held July 28-30 in Manhattan Beach.

The 9-10 squad will have the opportunity to compete in the Section 2 Tournament on its home field.

Crescenta Valley Manager John Risso said his players have been practicing the last few days, knowing the competition will be much tougher.

“We know the type of caliber teams we’ll be going up against,” Risso said. “We’ve had time to regroup and provide one-on-one instruction with our players.

“We’ve had time to address a few things and we’ll have to continue playing solid defense. We’ll have the familiarity factor of being on our home field and not having to travel. We also know there won’t be any free rides.”

In the District 16 championship, Crescenta Valley starting pitcher Andrew Miller held Jewel City/Jewish War Veterans-Tujunga to one hit in four innings and reliever Joseph Risso yielded just two hits. The tandem combined to strike out 11.

The four-team Section 2 Tournament will also feature Sherman Oaks and San Marino National. The championship tilt will start at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. A winner-take-all game would begin at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The winner will advance to the Division 3 North Tournament, which will run July 23-28 in Palmdale.