Conejo Valley Has First Test Today

The Conejo Valley Little League team from Thousand Oaks has trailed for only two innings during the postseason, but it will have to play catch-up for the next three days at the Little League World Series.

Conejo Valley (17-0) opens the tournament today at noon (PDT) against Morganton, N.C., two days after its opener against Lincoln, R.I., was rained out. The 15 other teams here have already played at least one game.

Conejo Valley, which did not play Saturday, is scheduled to play Davenport, Iowa, at noon Monday before its scheduled make-up game against Lincoln on Tuesday at 7 a.m.

Conejo Valley is the only team in the tournament that must play on three consecutive days.

“I would have rather played a doubleheader,” Coach Tom Ginther said.

In games Saturday involving teams from the United States, Richmond, Texas, hit four home runs and defeated Redmond, Wash., 18-7, in the opener for both.

Chris Costantino threw a four-hitter and got his 15th strikeout with the winning run on second base to give Lincoln a 3-2 victory over Davenport.

In International play, Willemstad, Curacao, defeated Guadalupe, Mexico, 3-2, behind a first-inning three-run homer by winning pitcher Carlos Pineda. Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, scored three runs in the top of the seventh to defeat Northern Mariana Islands, 4-1, in the first extra-inning game of the tournament. Kaohsiung, Taiwan, opened with an 18-0 victory over Kutno, Poland.

-- Dan Arritt