Bad inning ends Pacifica team’s run
SAN BERNARDINO — There was no championship victory lap for the Pacifica American Little League team Saturday night at the West Region championship game.
Mountain Ridge, Nev., scored nine runs before Pacifica came to bat and earned an 11-2 victory. The result denied the Pacifica squad a trip to Williamsport, Pa., for the Little League World Series.
But Pacifica’s players, who knocked out tournament favorite Hawaii in the semifinals a night earlier, were feeling like winners.
“Two seconds after the game ended, these kids realized what they had accomplished,” Pacifica American coach Steve Falk said. “I’m proud as hell of this team.”
The good news Friday night was the two-hit shutout by Elijah Ricks. The bad news Saturday night was that Ricks was ineligible to pitch because he had thrown too many pitches Friday.
“I had a shortstop and outfielder as pitchers,” said Falk, who has coached many of the players since they were 5 years old. “Sometimes they do well and some nights they don’t have it.”
Although Pacifica American’s effort continued through the final out, the game was decided in the top of the first.
Cruise Thompson, who was the starting pitcher, struck out Zachary Hare to start the game, but things went downhill on a steep slope. The next six Mountain Ridge batters reached base, three of them on walks, two of which drove in runs.
Austin Kryszczuk blew things open when he hit a three-run, nodoubt-about-it home run to complete the nine-run inning. Pacifica countered with two runs in the bottom of the first, but a fourth-inning rally was extinguished when Justin Hausner made an ice-cream-cone catch and turned Tyler Shaw’s line drive into a double play.
Pacifica American took pride in being the top team in California. A tournament official asked players at Friday’s postgame news conference how many Little League teams were in California. Third baseman Chris Rodriguez guessed 500, Ricks guessed 400, and catcher Justice Turner simply said a lot.
When the official told them there were over 2,200 teams, the players were amazed.
As Falk said, Pacifica American realized what it had accomplished.
And yes, there will be a parade in Pacifica after the players arrive home.