Edgar Melik-Stepanyan
BABE HERMAN FIELD -- Brian Bistagne and Chad Nacapoy were the heart
and soul for the Foothill All-Stars Little League baseball team on
Tuesday.
Bistagne and Nacapoy provided the pitching and power for Foothill as
it defeated Verdugo, 8-4, at Babe Herman Field.
The matchup was the first game for both teams in the Little League
District 16 11- and 12-year-old All-Star major baseball tournament.
"The pitching was great. The first win of our tournament is always
encouraging," said Foothill Coach Errol Simonitsch.
Foothill will advance to play Jewel City 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Babe
Herman. Verdugo will play the loser of the Tujunga and Vaquero game at 5
p.m. Thursday at Babe Herman.
Bistagne, the starting pitcher for Foothill, pitched a complete game
for the victory. He finished by giving up four runs, seven hits, and five
strikeouts with only one walk.
Nacapoy chipped in with a three-run home run to right field to extend
Foothill's lead to 5-0 and put the game out of reach in third inning.
After giving up the home run to Nacapoy, Verdugo starting pitcher
Heather Brusokas never recovered. Foothill scored two runs in the fourth
and one in the sixth to seal the victory.
She pitched six innings and gave up eight runs, but only one was
unearned. She gave up seven hits and walked three with four strikeouts.
Verdugo threatened in the fifth but it wasn't enough. The first four
batters of the inning reached base with a walk and three hits. Brusokas
drove in two runs when on a double to center field that scored Rudy
Guerrero and Edgar Reyes.
Nacapoy threw out Jeremy Camacho at second when he tried to steal, and
Bistagne retired the next two batters to end the inning.
"Foothill is a very good team. We didn't make too many mistakes. They
hit the ball well," said Verdugo Coach Gilbert Camacho.
Foothill scored the first two runs of the game in the second inning.
After Spencer Cox walked and Michael Peck got on base on a fielders's
choice, advancing Cox to second, Brett Hertz hit a double to score Cox.
Peck later scored on a Geoff Sanders single.
Simonitsch is looking forward to the challenge against Jewel City. "We
are confident against them that we could beat them."
BOX SCORE
Foothill 023 201 -- 8 7 3
Verdugo 001 030 -- 4 7 1
Foothill IP R ER H BB K
Bistagne 6 4 3 7 1 5
Verdugo IP R ER H BB K
Brusokas 6 8 7 7 3 4
WP - Bistagne (1-0)
LP - Brusokas (0-1)
2B: F- Hertz, Bistagne; V- Pantoja, Reyes, Brusokas
HR: F- Nacapoy (1)
