Now that Little League teams are starting to wind down their summer all-star seasons, it’s time for high school and college football teams to start preseason training camps. California District 41 Little League’s all-star season is over for its 10U, 11U and 12U teams after the 10U and 11U squads finished runner-up in California Section 7 championship games and Alpine American Little League’s 12U all-stars were eliminated with a pair of consecutive losses at last weekend’s Southern California divisional tournament. The road to the Little League World Series thus came to an end for Alpine American after 10 games (eight wins, two losses). “It was a great run for Alpine, but the strong defense and our bats seemed to be left in San Diego,” Alpine American manager Johnny Dominguez said. “This squad from Alpine was capable of going toe-to-toe with all the top teams in the divisional tournament, but we had to be at our best to win and we simply didn’t have that. A great run by a great group of kids who made some noise for a great league. We set the bar high and look forward to future Alpine teams’ efforts to meet and exceed what we did this year.” Alpine American lost its first game, 4-1, to District 40 champion Sherman Oaks Southern last Saturday. The District 41 champions dropped out of the 10-team double-elimination tournament following a 6-2 loss to District 31 champion Del Mar on Sunday. Alpine was one of four teams in the divisional tournament with the unfortunate draw to play an extra out-bracket game to begin the tournament. Besides the extra game, Dominguez said it came against Sherman Oaks, one of the favorites to win the tournament. “We played a close game, losing 4-1,” Dominguez said. “Pitching remained strong with Carson Reis only giving up two hits and no earned runs over four innings with five strikeouts. The defense that had been strong all games prior let us down with three errors.” The setback to Del Mar came in extra innings. Alpine American held a 1-0 lead going into the last inning based on another strong pitching performance from Silas Entrekin, who went 4.2 innings without giving up a hit and zero runs while notching five strikeouts. Del Mar tied the game, however, off the Alpine American bullpen. The teams played three extra innings, but the Alpine American defense once again could not hold up and allowed the winnings runs on two errors. It was a valiant effort that just came up short for the District 41 champions. La Verne (District 20), El Segundo (District 36), East Hills Yorba Linda (District 56) and Sherman Oaks remained undefeated heading into Wednesday’s winners bracket games. Fontana Community (District 71), Aliso Viejo (District 55), Eastvale (District 72) and Del Mar remained alive entering Tuesday’s elimination games. The Southern California champion advances to the Little League World Series West Region tournament in San Bernardino – one step away from the big show in South Williamsport, Pa. District 41 qualified teams in all three Section 7 championship games: 10U, 11U and 12U. Both the 10U and 11U divisions went the distance with doubleelimination games required on July 19. District 42 champion Sweetwater Valley defeated District 41 champion Santana National, 20-4, to claim the 10U banner while Sweetwater Valley’s 11U team topped District 41 champion Rancho de Oro, 5-2, in another “if” game rematch. Santana National forced a double-elimination replay with a clutch 19-13 win on July 18 while Sweetwater Valley prevented Rancho de Oro from claiming the banner outright with an 8-2 win, also on July 18.
