PPBA All-Stars Win Section Titles

Local Pinto 8U, Mustang 9U and Bronco 11U Squads Advance to Pony Baseball Regional Playoffs

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The Pacific Palisades Baseball Association’s Pinto 8U All-Stars are on quite a roll this summer. One week after capturing the Pony SoCal North Region District 1 championship at Freedom park in Camarillo, the local team added the Section 2 championship to its resume following a 14-8 triumph over host Hart White on Sunday in Santa Clarita.

“We went 4-0 in the tournament with a couple of amazing endings,” head coach Kambiz Kamdar said. “In our first game Friday against Simi Youth White we were a run down in the bottom of the sixth inning but won it 10-9 by stealing home on a wild pitch. We ended our second game against Lancaster Blue with a triple play. In the semifinals against Hart Red we came back in the top of the fifth, scoring eight runs with two outs, including six doubles in a row! In the championship game, it went back and forth until we broke it open with five runs in the bottom of the fifth. Then we closed it out in the sixth with Henry Janneck on the mound.”

Kamdar and assistant coaches Brad Hill and Steve Bergman guided the 8Us to finals in Cheviot Hills and the semifinals  in Agoura and Simi Valley to prepare their squad for sanctioned playoffs and the extra games paid dividends. Battery power propelled Palisades to a 10-0 shutout of host Camarillo White in the District finale, as pitcher Parker Atwood and catcher Ford Hill kept the opposing team off the scoreboard in a four-inning victory.

Everyone on the roster except Luca House was there for the sectional round: Hill, Atwood, Janneck, James Kamdar, Grey Schiff, Alex Pollack, Sam Schiff, Gavin Morrow, Noah Mehring,   Spencer Bergman, Theo Johnson and Graham Aris.

Winning the section earned the 8Us a spot in this weekend’s 10-team regional bracket at the East Valley Complex in North Hollywood. Palisades opens pool play today versus Hart White and faces Camarillo Blue on Saturday morning. Semifinals are Sunday and the championship game is Monday at 5 p..m.      

Two other PPBA squads also won section titles the next day in Simi Valley. Palisades’ Mustang 9Us defeated  Newbury Park 12-4 in the championship game Monday after having won their pool with blowout victories over Santa Ynez and Simi Youth White, then defeating Simi Youth White again, 6-3, in the semifinals.

“Carter Bergman, Nate Underwood and Will Feil pitched phenomenally [in the finals],” head coach Taylor Talt said.

“Tristan Kawasaki and Will [Feil] each hit a triple—the first time we’ve had two triples in a game—and all of the boys  played great to contribute to the win. Fun day!

Rounding out the 8U roster were Axl Moody, Bennett Underwood, Dylan Morrow, Jack Hetherington, Maddox Martin, Cabe Talt, Owen Tyler and Anthony Layton.

The 9Us advanced to the region playoffs at Kildee Park in Camarillo. They begin pool play today against Simi Youth Red and have two games Saturday: Hart and Camarillo Blue.

While the 9Us were wrapping up their Section 3 title, Palisades’ Bronco 11Us were applying the finishing touch to their dominant run through the Section 3 tournament. Playing at the same facility in Simi Valley but on the larger Pony-size diamond, the 11Us beat Toluca Navy 12-2 in the championship game Monday.

“The player of the game was pitcher Tyler Racanelli, who took a perfect game into the fifth before giving up a walk and finishing one out shy of a complete game,” assistant coach  Eric Foster said. “He allowed one hit and two walks with eight strikeouts in fiour and two-thirds innings. At the plate he went two-for-three with a double. Henry Wyman and Will Hill also stood out. Both went two-for-three with a double and a triple.”     

Hill relieved Racanelli to get the final out. He and Ethan Montminy each had two RBIs for head coach David Hoffman’s squad, which also got contributions from Sam Foster, Perrish McGinn, Remy Moore, Jackson Moore, Blake Milinovich, Max Yost, Hudson Tucker, Wil Hoffman, Dylan Hartunian, Isaac Ungerleider and Cy Murphy.

In Sunday’s 15-5 semifinal win against Simi Youth Red, Palisades took the lead when Wyman belted a two-RBI double to highlight a fourrun fourth inning. In the sixth, Yost and Hill each hit two-RBI doubles and Foster’s single to the left-center field gap ended the game.

Palisades advanced to the eight-team regional round, also at Kildee Park, and takes on Camarillo Blue today at 5. On Saturday, the PPBA  11Us play back-to-back games versus Westhills and Westlake Blue. The semifinals are Sunday morning and the final is at 1:30 that afternoon. Five teams will advance to either the Zone or Super Region playoffs.

Palisades’ Mustang 10U and Bronco 12U All-Star squads host sectional tournaments this weekend at the Field of Dreams. The 12U final is Sunday at 2 p.m. while the 10U final is Monday at 5 p.m.

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