IN SPORTS: TWO TEAMS TO CAL RIPKEN TOURNEY Lodi News-Sentinel Tuesday, June 20, 2017 75 cents
Revenge was sweet for Lodi against Ripon in the Cal Ripken 11U All-Stars Baseball Tournament at Salas Park on Saturday and Sunday.
After dropping a 9-7 loss to Ripon in the first game of the divisional tournament on Saturday morning, a home run broke up a close contest in the second game to give Lodi a 104 win to even the series.
Then on Sunday, Lodi completed the comeback with a 133 victory, spurred by a Preston Plath home run and three RBIs. Carson Devine and Austin Meehleis added doubles, with Meehleis going 3for-3 from the leadoff spot with two RBIs and two runs. He also pitched a complete game — five innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits with three strikeouts.
Devine went 2-for-3 with two runs, JoJo Elsbree went 2for-4 with two RBIs and two runs, Gavin Mora went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, Caiden Andes went 2-for-3 and Logan Edwards drove in two runs.
In Saturday’s second game, with the score tied 2-2, Lodi scored three times to take a 52 lead. Andes singled down the third base line, and moved to second on a stolen base. After a strike out, Lodi’s Jaxon Diede put runners at the corners when he singled, also to left field.
Then Lodi’s Matt Gobel sent the ball deep over the left field fence for a home run for the go-ahead lead.
“It was just a fastball, straight down the middle,” Gobel said.
Added Lodi manager Steve Brown, “He hit the ball pretty good. Matt did a very good job for us.”
Ripon cut Lodi’s lead to 5-3 in its next at-bat in the third. Two singles and a hitter batter led toward Ripon’s lone run.
Bats were silent for Lodi and Ripon in the fourth inning. Then in the fifth, Lodi increased its lead to 7-3 on two hits. Mora started the frame with a single to right field, and stole second and third bases.
Pinch-hitter Noah Silvia walked to put Lodi into another favorable position of runners at the corners again. After two strike outs, Diede singled to right-center field that drove in Mora and Silvia.
Lodi’s defense was a factor over Ripon in the final three innings of the game. Four times Ripon had runners on bases. But Lodi got out of each jam with fly balls caught by outfielders Andes, Nixon Lombardi and Gobel, plus a strike out and a runner thrown out by Mora, behind the plate for the entire game.
“This is a good team,” said Brown of his squad.
Ripon scored its final run in the bottom of the fifth inning to make it 7-4. One of two
hits for Ripon was a home run by Owen Wilbur.
But Lodi crushed any hopes of Ripon winning with three more runs touching home plate in the top of the sixth frame. One of Lodi’s hits was a double by Carson Devine, plus a single from leadoff hitter Austin Meehleis. Lodi took advantage of two Ripon throwing errors, and the assistance of a sacrifice fly, to generate the final runs.
In the first inning, Lodi took a 2-0 lead with one out. Plath singled and then scored on a double by Jo Jo Elsbree. Devine’s sac fly sent Elsbree home. A double, plus two singles, walk and hit batter helped Ripon knot the game at 2-2.
Lodi went through four pitchers in the game. Devine started the game, going three innings. Preston Plath, along with teammates Gobel and Meehleis, combined to toss the final three frames of the game.