Auburn Seniors breeze into title game

Little League All-Star Baseball Roundup, by Journal Sports Staff

The Auburn Little League Senior All-Stars routed host Tri-City 16-6 in five innings Wednesday night in Rocklin.

Auburn scored six runs in the second and five in the third for an 11-0 lead in the game for ages 15-16, before answering a Tri-City rally in the top of the fifth with five runs in the bottom half to end the game by the mercy rule.

Josh Hart went 3-for-4 with two doubles for Auburn, which will play in Saturday’s 7 p.m. championship. Winning pitcher Andy Clifford was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, Daniel Jackson had a two-run double and a single for four total RBIs, and Ansel Bretz was 2-for-2 with a double.

Auburn ended the game with a two-out rally, as Blake Ballantine’s double off the fence drove in the 15th run, before Taylor Reese ended the game with an RBI single that scored Andy Launier.

“The kids really did well,” said Auburn manager Mike Reese. “They started out fast then had a little lull, but finished extremely strong. They played a really nice ball game with very few errors.”

Clifford struck out six, giving up only one big hit — a three-run homer by Johnny Johnson in the fourth inning. Mike Lenz finished up in the fifth.

Coach Reese will have to miss Saturday’s title game due to a prior engagement — he’ll be competing in the Markleeville Death Ride bike event near Lake Tahoe. Assistant coach Rich Ballantine will take over the team.

Sierra Foothill Majors 5, Bear River 4 (7 innings): Sierra Foothills, representing the Colfax/Meadow Vista area, scored the winning run with two outs in the extra inning to take the winners-bracket final Wednesday at the Magnolia field in Lake of the Pines.

Bear River will play Grass Valley at 7 p.m. tonight to try to get into Friday’s 7 p.m. championship against Sierra Foothills.

Will McLaughlin (2-for-4) beat out an infield single, went to second base on a Joel Thys walk and scored when Bear River’s catch scooped up a wild pitch and overthrew third base.

In the bottom half, A.J. Nunez, taking over for starting pitcher Trevor Blair, pitched a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts to end the game.

Nunez (3-for-4) had a two-run single in the third, when Bear River broke a 1-1 tie with three runs. Bear River got within 4-3 in the fifth on Stephen Hilton’s two-run homer. In the bottom of the sixth, Bear River’s Dalton Wirick hit his second double of the game and scored on Vince Viola’s single. But Sierra Foothills second baseman Teddy Marks and right fielder Chad Diez threw out two baserunners to end the inning. Their team also threw out two other baserunners.

Blair scattered five hits while striking out six in his six innings of work. He helped his cause with a double.

Andrew Ritchart had two hits for Bear River, which beat Penn Valley 11-7 on Tuesday.

Ritchart had a two-run triple and RBI single and Hilton tripled and singled and scored three times. Smith and Bryant Chapman each had a single and scored, Viola had a single, RBI and run, and Kyle Waldman also scored.

Starting pitcher Jeremy Brown struck out five and walked only three through five innings, and helped his cause with an RBI single.

Auburn 9-10-Year-Olds 6, Rocklin 2: In Foresthill, Auburn got a superb performance from pitcher Josh Klem and others Tuesday night as it defeated a highly touted Rocklin team 6-2 in the second round.

“Rocklin is a good team, and there was a lot of hoopla that they should win the tournament,” Auburn manager Jim Gray said. “But we played just great defense all over the ball field.”

Klem pitched the entire game, striking out only three and walking three. He also went 4-for-4 at the plate, with two doubles and a pair of RBIs.

Catcher Travis Tidd had two singles and played a strong game behind the plate. Derek Bovee also had two singles, and Michael Gray and Ryan Lipsmeyer each added a double and RBI. Steve Smith also singled.

Lipsmeyer, playing shortstop instead of his usual second base, and third baseman Tim Bendana and left fielder Christopher Holbrook also played strong defense.

Rocklin Majors 11, Auburn 2: Auburn fell into the losers bracket Tuesday, but routed Tri-City 11-2 on Wednesday to earn a rematch with Rocklin in tonight’s 7 p.m. championship game. It needs to beat Rocklin to force another title game on Friday night.

Bear River 9-10-Year-Olds 14, Nevada City 11: At Penn Valley’s Western Gateway Park, Bear River won an offensive showdown Tuesday to reach Friday’s 6 p.m. championship game.