Vaquero Star Ford tops Burbank Angels, advances to title game
A massive final inning lifted the Vaquero Star Ford Major baseball team to the championship game.
Vaquero scored nine runs in the fifth inning to register a 13-7 win against the Burbank Angels on Thursday in a winner’s-bracket contest of the Tri-Cities Little League District 16 Tournament of Champions at Montrose Park. The game was called after five innings because of the tournament-imposed time rule of 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Star Ford overcame a 6-4 deficit heading into the fifth and will meet Foothill Goldack or Burbank in the title matchup at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Tujunga Little League Fields. Foothill and Burbank will compete in an elimination contest at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Tujunga. A winner-take-all game would be held Monday at a time and place to be determined.
“We have a deep lineup and everybody knows what they need to do, whether it’s the No. 9 hitter of the No. 4 hitter,” Vaquero manager Danny Martinez said. “We work very hard with them on hitting and it’s a lineup that can put up runs pretty quickly.
“It’s great to get to the championship game Sunday. We have some time to get ready for it and we’ll see what happens. There’s a lot to be proud of with this team.”
Jason Martinez scored on a wild pitch to give Star Ford a 7-6 lead. A run-scoring single by Javier Solis made it 8-6. Later in the inning, Aaron Ruiz registered a two-run single to make it 11-6 before Aaron Aguayo and Sean Forero drove in runs to complete the inning.
The Angels, who had just nine players, scored a run in the bottom of the inning to close out the scoring.
Vaquero Jesse Molina, who finished with two runs batted in, said Star Ford’s lineup has the potential to erupt.
“It’s because there’s are so many talented hitters up and down the lineup,” Molina said. “When you have the confidence, you can do a lot of things.
“We’re glad we’re going to the championship game, but we still have to go out there and prove we can do it again.”
Vaquero held a 2-0 lead in the first before Burbank sliced the deficit to 2-1 on a home run to right field by Josh Avila in the second.
The Angels took a 3-2 lead on a two-run double by Micah Homayounian in the third and finished the scoring in the inning on a ground out to third by Danny Betancourt.
Star Ford scored two runs in the fourth to tie it at 4. Molina had a sacrifice fly to center to make it 4-3 before a groundout to shortstop by Fernando Gallegos knotted it at 4.
The Angels then scored two runs in the fourth. An error by the pitcher gave the Angels a 5-4 lead and an error by the first baseman extended the lead to 6-4.
Burbank manager David Diamond said the Angels had trouble putting away Star Ford in the fifth.
“They have a lot of good hitters and we are short right now with our pitching,” Diamond said. “We fought all night long and we have a chance to get to the championship game. We’ll play with confidence [Saturday].”
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
