Three Manteca second-inning home runs broke a close game with Northgate wide open Sunday on the way to Manteca pulling away to win the District 67 11-12-year-old All-Star championship 13-1 in five innings on Northgate Little League’s Gillen Field.
“The kids played great,” Manteca coach Kevin Wentworth said. “They played really good and did everything well. We knew this was a pretty good group but we didn’t know we would play this well.
“Total hats off to Northgate. They have always been the guys that have taken us out and for us to come back this year and play well against them feels pretty good.”
The score was knotted 1-1 after one inning but it did not stay that way for long. Tyler Paul Wentworth (3 for 4, four RBI, home run, double) got the first home run of the second inning for Manteca, a two-run shot that plated Blake Mejorado. Coupled with Nate Dorn’s scoring on an error, that bumped the Manteca lead to 4-1.
Eli Terpsma (2 for 3, double, three runs) came up next and doubled, scoring on Seth Van Dyk’s home run. Landon Chamberlain (3 for 4, three RBI, home run, double) followed Van Dyk (3 for 3, three RBI, home run, two runs) with a solo shot to make the score 6-1.
Chamberlain cleared the bases with a double in the fifth, scoring Wentworth and Terpsma with Van Dyk scoring on an error. Wentworth had just doubled in Dorn (three runs) and at the end of the frame Manteca led 13-1.
The two teams traded runs in the first inning. Terpsma singled, took second on a wild pitch and scored on VanDyk’s single for a 1-0 Manteca lead. Fernando Alaniz (2 for 3, home run) tied the score in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run.
Noah Calmes doubled later in the first inning and Nolan Mix and Fernando Alaniz singled in the fifth for Northgate.
Wentworth pitched the first four innings, striking out eight against two hits, three walks and a hit batter. Wentworth struck out the side in the fourth. Terpsman closed out the game with a shutout fifth, striking out two and allowing two hits.
Manteca travels to Turlock American Little League on Saturday to begin the Section 6 Tournament at 4 p.m. at Julien Elementary School.
Northgate 13,
Spreckels Park 5
Three home runs keyed an eight-run second inning for Northgate on Saturday in its consolation final win on Gillen Field.
Grant Sonke (2 for 3, two runs) had the big hit of the Northgate second with a three-run home run. Greggie Adams and Calmes had the other two home runs in the inning.
Alaniz led the Northgate attack with a home run and two doubles, scoring three times, Mix was 2 for 2 with a run and Zach Grabowski doubled.
Alaniz (four strikeouts), (Grabowski (three strikeouts) and Adams (strikeout) led the Northgate pitching corps.
Santino Flores, Troy Morrow, Rylan McDonald, Frank Teicheira (run), Zach Walmer (run), Zane Walmer, Izrael San Nicholas, Nate Guevara and Hunter Donham all reached base for Spreckels Park.
