Foothill Little League: 2012 Post-season Highlights

11/12 YEAR OLD TEAM 

If you like hitting, then this game was right up your alley. Foothill's senior All-Star team opened pool play today (June 23) exploding for 12 runs on 11 hits in 5 innings of offense en route to a 12-8 victory over Montalvo LL. Powering the offense was Jake Hansen who hit a monster 2-run home run to deep left field while going 2-for-3 with a walk. Philip Drescher was hot, going 3-for-4 and Marcus De Los Santos was 2-for-3 with 3 RBI. Luke Orona was two outs short of a complete game giving up just 3 earned runs on 5 hits while fanning 8 batters and walking just two. Gavin Harley added 2 RBI on a two-strike base hit to right. Hansen relieved Orona to close out the game, getting the final two outs on strikeouts.

In another high-scoring, action-packed game at Huntsinger Park, the host Saticoy team fell behind our Foothill All-Stars 7-0 after 2 innings highlighted by Philip Drescher's 2-run home run and a 2 RBI base hit by Marcus De Los Santos. But, Saticoy wasn't going quietly as they put up an 8-spot in the bottom of the 3rd inning with soem solid hitting that included a game tying 3-run homer from Dylan Gleissner. However, Foothill came right back in their next at bat with a pair of 2-out, 2-run home runs from Luke Orona and Gabe LeVasseur, both to right field giving Foothill a 11-8 lead that was never relinquished. Saticoy came back with a run in the 4th but their bases-loaded rally was squashed on a brilliant double play by Drescher at 2B, snagging a line drive, then flipping to 1B to end the inning. FLL added two insurance runs in the 6th, then Coby Barbar closed it out with a one, two, three inning to seal the victory. The team is now 2-for-2 heading into a game vs Goleta Valley LL on Saturday.

Against a team that has suffered only a single loss over the past 3 years of All-Star competition, the Foothill 11/12s battled toe-to-toe with the Goleta Valley squad though 4 innings. In fact, FLL jumped to an early 3-0 lead in the 1st on a 3-run home run blast from Luke Orona off the GVSLL ace Colton Nisbet. The lead was short-lived when Goleta bounced back with 3 runs of their own, also on a 3-run home run. Goleta took a slim 4-3 lead in the 3rd, and busted the game open in the 5th scoring 8 runs on 7 hits on thier way to a 12-3 victory. Jake Hansen continued his hot-hitting with a 2-for-3 day.

On Sunday, July 1 it was a winner-take-all contest between Foothill and Santa Paula. Both teams entered the game with 2 wins and a loss, so whoever ended up on top would advance to the double elmination district championship bracket next week at Dos Pueblos LL. SPLL jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the 1st on aan error and a couple of base hits. Then they extended their lead to 7-0 in the 2nd inning on 4 hits. Foothill pushed across a run in the 3rd in an inning that could have been bigger after putting the first two batters on base with walks and two hits but for an ill-fated double play in the middle of the inning. After SPLL added 3 more runs, Foothill again tried to rally in the 4th scoring two runs but another base-running gaffe ended the inning. On the day, Marcus De Los Santos added two more hits to his team-leading total of 7 while hitting a torrid .583 for the 4-game stretch.

For the tournament, Philip Drescher and Jake Hansen each had 6 hits and a .462 batting average. Luke Orona led the team with 2 home runs, while on the mound he struck out 12 batters over 9 1/3 innings.

10/11 YEAR OLD TEAM

Foothill's 10/11 All-Star squad opened play today (June 24) at the tournament co-hosted by Dos Pueblos and Saticoy with fairly handy win over Montalvo, 10-5. The offense was led by a 4 RBI day from Spencer Bullock that included an all-out hustle play when he doubled to the outfield, then continued all the way to the plate on two overthrows.

In their second of six pool play contests, the Foothill All-Stars beat the host Saticoy LL team, 5-1 on a very windy Monday (June 25) at Huntsinger Park. The pitching staff carried the day in this game allowing just one run from a combination of Nick Lanski and Cullen Moes.

Winning their third straight game, the Foothill All-Stars rolled to an easy victory over Fillmore LL, 14-0. The hot-hitting Corey Gear gave the team all of the runs they needed in the first inning with a 3-run home run into a stiff breeze at Huntsinger Park. They cruised from there as Gear and Copper Armstrong pitched shutout ball over the 4 innings in this game shortened by the 10-run-rule.

The Foothill 10/11 suffered their first loss of the tournament on Friday, falling to Goleta Valley South, 20-10.

On Sunday evening, the team from Foothill played a tough opponent in Dos Pueblos LL and lost a close one, 4-1. The All-Stars will close out pool play Monday, July 2 with a match-up with Fillmore LL.

In their final game of the pool play portion of the tournament, the Foothill 10/11s routed the Santa Paula team 11-0 in a run rule-shortened game. Leading the way for FLL on the mound was Nick Lanski who threw a 1-hit shutout. Corey Gear continued his hot-hitting going 3-for-3 with 3 doubles including a ground rule double to deep center field. The defense was led by Michael Murray who made a sparkling double play in the first inning.

The only remaining Foothill All-Star squad will now move onto the double elimination District 63 championship bracket as the #2 seed. Their first game is Saturday, July 7 at Huntsinger Park (Saticoy LL) at 10:00 am. Should they win that game they would return to play on Sunday at 3:00 pm. If they lose, then they play at Noon.

In a nail biter on Saturday, #2 seed Foothill and the #3 seed Saticoy All-Star teams entered the 6th inning tied at one. The first batter for Saticoy blooped a single to shallow right, then stole second base and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Corey Gear struck out the final batter for Saticoy. The Foothill squad needed one to tie and two for the walkoff win in the bottom of the 6th. But, a fly ball and two ground outs ended the game and put FLL into the elimination bracket versus Montalvo tomorrow at Noon. The winner of that game will face the Goleta Valley LL/Saticoy LL loser on Monday. The season will come to an end for the loser of tomorrow's game.

Facing elimination from the District championship bracket, the Foothill All-Stars rose to the occasion and put the hammer to Montalvo LL in a 10-3 victory. FLL was down 1-0 eary before breaking out for 8 runs in the 4th inning and never looking back. The offense put 2 more runs on the board in the 5th and the pitching of Corey Gear and Michael Murray quieted the Montalvo bats over the final 3 innings. Foothill will face Saticoy LL tomorrow with the winner advancing to the championship game on Thursday.

It's on to the Championship Game for the Foothill 10/11 All-Stars after a game that went down to the final pitch. Saticoy LL made a valiant comeback but Foothill prevailed 7-6. With FLL holding a slight 2-1 edge after 4 innings, the team broke it open with 5 runs in the 4th with all of the runs scoring with 2 outs. Copper Armstrong knocked in 2 runs with an opposite field base hit. Saticoy added a run in the 5th to make it 7-2. With FLL needing just 3 outs to earn a meeting with Goleta Valley LL on Thursday, Saticoy got a solo home run, then two more runs on a double and two base hits to claw to within 3 runs. With two outs SLL got another base hit, then made it nervous time for Foothill when Cole Miller homered to centerfield to make it 7-6. The next batter hit a long fly ball to deep left but Jamie Van Mannekes made a nice running catch to seal the victory.

The Foothill 10/11 All-Stars successfully weaved their way through an eight game gaunlet to reach the District 63 Championship game versus Goleta Valley South LL on Thursday, July 12. The always talented and well-coached team from our neighbors to the north present a huge challenge to other District 63 little leagues. And, it was no different in this game. After falling behind 4-0 early, the squad from Foothill never could quite muster a rally and eventually fell to GVSLL, 10-1 in six innings.

This game ended the 10/11-year old team's great tournament run, however Coaches Tom Lanski, Dan Garza and Dave Murray, and all of the players should be proud of the way they represented Foothill Little League. We would like to thank the both Dos Pueblos and Saticoy LLs for hosting a well-organized and fun the tournament! 

9/10 YEAR OLD TEAM

The Foothill 9/10 All-Star's opened play today (June 24) at the tournament hosted by Montalvo LL with a come-from-behind victory over Carpinteria Valley LL, 8-7. It was a back and forth affair with FLL ahead 5-3 after 3 innings. CVLL rallied for 3 runs to take the lead, 6-5 in the 4th but FLL fought back to tie the score in the bottom of the 4th. In the 5th, Carpinteria pushed across a run to go up 7-6. Refusing to give in, Aaron Lewis's squad scored 2 huge runs on some head's up baserunning. It was up to Theo Warren to preserve the lead in Carpinteria's final at bat. Theo fanned the first batter, walked the next one, then punched out the final two batters to lock up the win.

In their second pool play contest, the Foothill All-Stars beat the team from Ojai Valley LL, 7-6 on Tuesday, June 26. Aaron Lewis's squad is now unbeaten in two games thus far in the tournament.

Foothill's unbeaten streak was snapped by a good Saticoy LL team Thursday, June 28 at Montalvo's fields. Our 9/10 year olds were hanging in there for 3 innings, down only 6-2 before SLL exploded for 6 runs to end the game in the 4th inning. The team's next game will be Monday, July 2 when they face the team from Dos Pueblos LL.

The Foothill 9/10 All-Star team's tournamanet run came to an end after falling to Dos Pueblos LL on Monday. Coaches Aaron Lewis, Ian Macleod and Rick Robles, and all of the players should be proud of the way they represented Foothill Little League. We would like to thank Montalvo LL for hosting a well-organized and fun the tournament!

7/8 YEAR OLD TEAM

The Foothill All-Star squad managed by Andrew Sherman opened tournament play Friday evening June 15 with a tough defeat to Fillmore LL, 10-4. Another pool play game will be contested on Saturday at 10:00 AM versus the team representing Carpinteria LL.

In the second game of the pool play portion of the tournament, the Foothill All-Stars handily beat the team from Carpinteria, 19-13. The offense was led by a 4-for-4 day from Spencer Major, an inside-the-park home run by Braydon Kimble, and a monster home run blast over the left field fence by Nathan Sherman. Folks, the field at Ojai Valley LL is 190 feet, so Nate's big fly would have been a home run on Foothill's Major field! Get your autographs now!

In the single elimination part of the tournament, Foothill opened play Friday night, June 22 against the All-Stars from Goleta Valley LL. The squad from Ventura played a tough team from up north but couldn't keep pace and fell to GVSLL, 11-1. The game ends 7/8-year old team's tournament run but the coaches and players should be proud of the way they represented Foothill Little League. The players and families had a great time and thank the Ojai Valley LL for hosting the tournament!

Foothill Minor Division

The Cardinals, representing Foothill as the Minor Division champions, opened Tournament of Champions play with a 7-0 win over Ventura Coastal on Monday.

In a second round game on Wednesday night, the Cards beat the Fillmore champions 10-0 in 4 innings. The team is now playing for the Championship versus Fillmore on Saturday at 1:30 on the Foothill LL Minor Field (Newell Field). Good luck!

The Cardinals lost a close game to the Fillmore team, 4-3. Being the runner-up in a tough TOC tournament is something the team and the coaches should be very proud of. Congratulations on a tremendously successful 2012 baseball season!

Foothill Major Division

Foothill's Major Division champion Angels squad fell to Fillmore 3-0 in the opening round game of the Tournament of Champions. The Montalvo Champs will play host to the Angels on Friday at 5:30.

The Foothill Angels bounced back to remain alive in the tournament with a 4-0 shutout of the Montalvo Cardinals. The squad earned a spot in the Consolation final against Ventura Coastal LL, a game that will be played at Foothill's Kitko Field on Monday at 5:30.

In a game contested for 3rd place in the District 63 Major Division TOC tournament, the Foothill Angels beat Ventura Coastal, 7-3. Congratulations to Manager Kevin Drescher and the Angels players on a highy successful 2012 baseball season!