Crescenta Valley Major baseball All-Stars rally for opening victory
MONTROSE — Count on the Tri-Cities Little League District 16 Major Baseball All-Star Tournament to be difficult for all four teams involved.
One could look at the opening-round game between Crescenta Valley and Jewel City-Jewish War Veterans-Vaquero on Tuesday at Montrose Park as a good example.
Crescenta Valley got a two-run home run from Hank Norman and a splendid pitching effort from the combination of Jeremy Um and Charlie Ward, who combined on a two-hitter, to earn a 3-2 come-from-behind victory.
“It’s definitely going to be a real exciting tournament,” said Crescenta Valley manager Todd Thomasy, whose team will meet Foothill-Tujunga or Burbank in a winner’s-bracket contest at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Montrose Park. “I think it’s really going to come down to pitching and we have a lot of good guys who can take the mound.
“This was a tough game and it came right down to the end. We got a huge home run from Hank to tie it up and then our pitchers were able to shut them down.”
A sacrifice fly by Jackson Hemmie scored the game-winning run by Nicolo Terenzi.
Jewel City-Jewish War Veterans-Vaquero, which will play an an elimination contest at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Montrose Park, held a 2-0 lead.
It scored both runs in the bottom of the second. A groundout to second by Von Upton scored Tristan Ulloa to make it 1-0. An error by the shortstop made it 2-0, as AJ Covarrubias scored from second.
“We felt good leading 2-0,” Jewel City-Jewish War Veterans-Vaquero manager Art Ulloa said. “Then they come back and take the lead and we were able to hang in there.
“So, we’ll look to regroup and we have some pitching options available to look at. We’ll just tighten up some things. I think the first game of this tournament is always the hardest on the kids because they want to get out there and play. We try to keep the pressure off them as best we can.”
In the top of the third, Ethan McCloskey led off and reached first on an error by the shortstop. Norman then homered to left field to tie it at 2.
“I’ve just felt confident batting lately,” said Norman, a right fielder who finished with two hits. “Something just clicked and it’s just great to be able to contribute.
“All of our guys stepped up and we got great efforts from Jeremy and Charlie.”
Crescenta Valley took a 3-2 lead later in the inning on a sacrifice fly to left by Hemmie that scored Terenzi to cap the scoring.
Um went the first four innings. He allowed one hit, struck out two and got a 3-6 double play in the fourth.
Ward went the final two innings to pick up the save. The left-hander yielded one hit and struck out two.
“Jeremy and Charlie hit their spots a lot,” Thomasy said. “We’ll look to stay positive and continue hitting the ball”
Crescenta Valley finished with six hits, including a single and double from Diego Pravikoff.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
