Charles Rich
Facing a hard-throwing pitcher, the table setters needed to remain
patient for a much-needed rally to take place.
They got on base, and then Ryan Eberhart cleared them with one
swing of the bat.
Eberhart delivered a bases-loaded triple with one out in the top
of the seventh to lead Shakey's Pizza to a 7-5 victory against the
Tujunga Yankees in the championship game of the Little League
District 16 Tri-Cities Junior Baseball Division at Dunsmore Park on
Wednesday night.
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BOX SCORE
*--*
*--*
Shakey's 0 0 0 0 2 0 5 -- 7 6 2
Yankees 1 0 0 2 0 0 2 -- 5 7 0
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*--*
Shakey's IP R ER H BB K
Kauppila 7 5 4 7 1 8
*--*
*--*
Yankees IP R ER H BB K
Weissberg 7 7 7 6 6 10
*--*
*--*
WP - Kauppila.
LP - Weissberg.
2B - Y-Dingman.
3B - S-Eberhart.
HR - Y-Weissberg 3 (6).
*--*
Shakey's Pizza (23-3) scored five runs in the seventh off standout
pitcher Andy Weissberg, who had baffled Shakey's Pizza throughout
most of the first six innings. Then Shakey's Pizza came alive against
the tall right-hander.
Eberhart, who had a walk and two groundouts earlier against
Weissberg, lined a triple to right-center field to score Jeffrey
Roberts, Lonnie Kauppila and Zack Torres to give Shakey's Pizza a 6-3
lead. Eberhart, a catcher, said he wasn't going to get a better
opportunity against a pitcher who had recorded 10 strikeouts.
"We had to come through," Eberhart said. "If nobody got on base,
it wouldn't have mattered.
"Our team had been hitting the whole game, and it's a relief to
everybody [on our team] that we won."
Weissberg hit three towering home runs off Kauppila, who kept his
team within striking distance entering the home stretch.
Kauppila helped his cause, tying the game at 3 with a sharp single
to score Erick Olivares, who began the comeback with a one-out walk.
"If I don't get that hit, it's going to be tough to win," said
Kauppila, who finished with eight strikeouts in a complete-game
effort. "I was nervous in my last at-bat.
"I've had some pretty good competition against Andy over the last
couple of years."
The Yankees (18-7-1) built an early 3-0 lead on Weissberg home
runs in the first and fourth innings. Weissberg pitched well, but
couldn't quite finish the job.
"I got a little overwhelmed [in the seventh], but you can't be
perfect," said Weissberg, who scored three runs and drove in four
runs. "I just lost myself a bit in the last inning."
Shakey's Pizza, which is coached by Phil Torres, got a two-run
single by Zack Torres to cut the Yankees' lead to 3-2 in the fifth.
Justin Dingman had two hits for the Yankees, who were coached by
Andy Brunson. Weissberg hit a two-run homer in the seventh to close
out the scoring.
* CHARLES RICH covers sports. He can be reached at (818) 637-3228
or by e-mail at charles.rich@latimes.com.
