LITTLE LEAGUE JUNIOR WORLD SERIES : Thousand Oaks Shows Spark, 5-2 : Baseball: West champion impresses Anderson while advancing to championship round.

The home team won, as far as Manager Sparky Anderson of the Detroit Tigers was concerned.

Anderson, who lives in Thousand Oaks during the off-season, watched his team beat Hamilton, Ohio, 5-2, and secure a spot in the championship round of the Little League Junior World Series 13-and-under baseball tournament.

The California team will now wait for three teams to play off in the losers’ bracket. The survivor must beat Thousand Oaks twice on Saturday to win the title.

“Put all your money on Thousand Oaks,” Anderson said. “They got some guys who can play.”

Kevin Howard (7-1) pitched a seven-inning complete game for Thousand Oaks, striking out seven and scattering five hits.

Thousand Oaks opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when shortstop Matt Rogers walked and scored on right fielder Wes Munyon’s double to right-center.

Dennis Dully answered for Ohio with a towering solo home run to left-center in the top of the second.

Howard broke the tie with an RBI double in a three-run third inning. He scored on a bloop single by third baseman Ryan Ayers. Thousand Oaks scored once more to take a 4-1 lead.

First baseman Jon Shepard closed out the scoring for Thousand Oaks with an RBI double in the sixth.

“We did all the basic things well today,” said Thousand Oaks coach Craig Frazier.

“We put the ball in play, played fundamental defense and got the key hits when we needed them.”

Howard pitched his way out of a jam in the fifth inning.

After John Lanni singled and Brett Jackson reached base on an error by Shepard, Howard caught Danny Bradner’s bunt attempt on the fly for the first out of the inning. He walked Tyson Stine to load the bases, then fell behind the next hitter, Ronnie Bicknell, three balls and no strikes.

“The toughest thing was pitching out of the hole,” Howard said. “I told myself not to aim it, just to throw it down the middle and let my fielders play the ball.”

The fielders didn’t have to move. Howard struck out Bicknell on three more pitches--two sweeping curves and a fastball low and away--then walked Andy Mignery on four pitches to force in a run. Then, he struck out Phil Bell on three pitches--two curves and the fastball--to kill the rally.

Ohio, which had been averaging 12 runs per game in the tournament, didn’t threaten again.

“We just didn’t hit at the key times,” said Ohio Manager Bob Jackson. “We were roping the ball all over the field for the first few innings, but it was right at somebody. If we could have gotten some hits early, maybe we could have rattled the pitcher.”

Mignery, who pitched a complete game for Ohio, took the loss. He gave up only five hits, but walked six.

Frazier said his team will take today off to rest and watch the remaining teams--Ohio, New York and Mexico--fight for a ticket out of the loser’s bracket.

Mexico beat Florida, 7-3, by scoring four runs in the top of the eighth inning. The Latin American entry will play New York, a 7-6 winner over Canada in 11 innings Thursday afternoon.

The winner of that game will play Ohio for the spot opposite Thousand Oaks in the final at 2 p.m. Saturday.