Thousand Oaks Trots Forward on Home Runs

Ryan Ayers and Doug Hutton hit back-to-back first-inning home runs Tuesday to trigger a 15-hit attack as Thousand Oaks moved to within one victory of the Little League Senior Division (14-15-year-olds) World Series with a 12-1, five-inning victory over Kaneohe, Hawaii, in a Western Regional game.

Thousand Oaks (14-0), which had seven home runs Monday in a 31-6 first-round victory over Red Rock, Nev., will play Thursday against an opponent to be determined. If Thousand Oaks wins, the team advances to the World Series in Kissimmee, Fla., beginning Monday.

If Thousand Oaks loses, the team still can advance with a victory Friday.

Having outscored two opponents, 43-7, Thousand Oaks must be considered the prohibitive favorite.

“I can’t tell if we are this good or the competition is that weak,” Thousand Oaks assistant Mark Davis said.

Ten players on the Thousand Oaks team were members of the 1994 team that won the Little League Junior Division World Series.

Ayers, who pitched a two-hitter, was two for three, including a solo home run to left field that followed Hutton’s three-run blast to center, which erased a 1-0 deficit.

Thousand Oaks followed the four-run first with a six-run second that included two-run singles by Wes Munyon and Jon Shepard. Hutton added a run-scoring single that scored Jesse Siebers, and Matt Rogers had a run-scoring double that scored Munyon.

In the third, Ayers, who will be a sophomore at Newbury Park High, singled to drive in Siebers and later scored on a single by Munyon.

Hutton, who will be a sophomore at Westlake High, was two for three and drove in four runs.

Hitting homers Monday were Hutton, Munyon, Shepard, Chris Cordeiro, Chris Catalano and Kevin Howard.

Hutton had a pair of three-run homers Monday and Munyon had a grand slam. Cordeiro and Howard had two-run homers, and Shepard and Catalano had solo shots.