CV routs Foothill, 12-0

MONTROSE — With sound pitching and a power-hitting lineup, the Crescenta Valley Major Baseball All-Star team liked its chances to reach the championship contest.

It used both facets to achieve that task.

Will Lombardo hit a pair of three-run home runs and Tanner Dunning pitched three scoreless innings to help propel Crescenta Valley to a 12-0 win against Foothill in a winner’s bracket contest of the District 16 Little League Major All-Star Tournament on Friday night at Montrose Park.

The game was called in the bottom of the fifth because of the 10-run mercy rule.

“We had a little bit of a struggle versus Burbank [in a second-round game Wednesday], but we got the butterflies out and were able to take our momentum into this game,” Crescenta Valley Coach Todd Erickson said. “Our bats came alive again and our defense was superb.

“Now, we’ve got two chances to win the championship.”

Crescenta Valley will face Foothill, Vaquero or Burbank in the title game at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Babe Herman Field. Foothill will face Burbank or Vaquero in an elimination contest at 7:30 p.m. today at Babe Herman Field.

Dunning allowed one hit and struck out two to pick up the victory. Reliever Christian Castaneda yielded two hits and struck out two.

“Dunning set the tone because he locates the ball and does what we say,” said Erickson, whose team finished with 13 hits. “He’s got control of his curve and fastball.”

Crescenta Valley scored three runs in the bottom of the second with Dunning, Nathan Cook and Kyle Tavizon each driving in one run. Dunning had a run-scoring double in the third to make it 6-0. Lombardo hit his home runs in the fourth and fifth to complete the scoring.

“That’s a typical CV All-Star team,” Foothill Coach Rick Dickerson said. “They’ve got good hitting and good pitching.

“We didn’t hit the ball well today. We started out that way in our first game, but we were able to get on track. We couldn’t put two hits together. We’ve still got another game, and we want to get back and face CV again Monday.”

Tavizon, Lombardo, Kevin Hello and Dunning each contributed a pair of hits for Crescenta Valley. Stuart Maxwell, Jonathan Rios and Adam Arzoumanian had one hit apiece for Foothill.