Encino 12-and-Under Rally, But Fall One Run Short, 14-and-Under Continues its Winning Ways

The 12-and-under Encino All-Stars (9-1) lost a heartbreaker to Conejo Valley 4-3 in the winners bracket final of the Southern California North Sub-Divisional in West Covina.

Encino had only one hit in the first five innings, but rallied with five hits and three runs in the sixth inning.

“In the last inning we produced, and that’s what we needed to do. So we’ll just come back and do it tomorrow,” said Grant Berman.

Elijah West had two hits and one RBI. Shawn Goosenberg and Jack Scher each had one hit and scored one run. Seth Stone belted one RBI and scored one run. Jamie Robertson hit one RBI.

Encino plays El Segundo in an elimination game on Tuesday, July 25 at 7 p.m. They defeated El Segundo 13-5 last Saturday.

They will now have to win three games in the next three days to win the sub-divisional.

Southern California Divisional Tournament — 2441 East Cortez Street, West Covina

Game 7 – Encino vs El Segundo (elim.) (7/26 – 7 p.m.)
Game 8 – Conejo Valley vs Winner 7 (TITLE) (7/27 – 7 p.m.)
Game 9 – If necessary (7/28 – 7 p.m.)

Game 1 – North Bracket Champions vs South Bracket Champions (7/30 – 3 p.m.)
Game 2 – North Bracket Champions vs South Bracket Champions (7/31 – 3 p.m.)
Game 3 – If necessary (8/1 – 7 p.m.)

14-Year-Olds

The 14-and-under Encino All-Stars (9-0) kept moving towards their goal of a sub-divisional championship with a 5-2 victory over Golden Hill. The Encino formula of pitching and defense was in full effect with Mitchell Kerner throwing five outstanding innings and not giving up any earned runs. Jake Gordon got the save by shutting down Golden Hill in the final two innings.

Golden Hill took the lead 2-0 in the first inning on two unearned runs, but the Encino bats quickly came alive answering with two runs in the bottom of the first and two more runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead for good.

Thomas Sprague led Encino with three hits. Jake Fried, Antoine Gonzalez, Kerner, Chris May, Anthony Mayorga and Sam Shaikin also added hits to contribute to the victory.

Defensive gems were made by Gordon, May, Mayorga, Shaikin and Zach Lewis.

With this win, Encino moves to the championship game on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Tehachapi against either Saticoy or Golden Hill.

Southern California North Sub-Divisional Tournament (all games in Tehachapi)

Game C – Golden Hill vs Saticoy (elim.) (7/26 – 6:00 p.m.)
Game 5 – Encino vs Winner C (TITLE) (7/27 – 6:00 p.m.)
Game 6 – If necessary (7/28 – 6:00 p.m.)