The California Lumberjacks White 12-U team from Cypress competed from July 7-13 at Cooperstown, N.Y., where it won Week No. 5 at All-Star Village and bested 24 teams from all over the country and Canada.
The California Lumberjacks White 12-U team from Cypress competed from July 7-13 at Cooperstown, N.Y., where it won Week No. 5 at All-Star Village and bested 24 teams from all over the country and Canada.
The Lumberjacks clinched the title with a 15-4 triumph against SoCal Riot in an impressive offensive showing that featured five different players crushing home runs.
The Riot did manage to hold a 1-0 lead through the first inning, which marked the first time the Lumberjacks trailed during the entire tourney. However, slugger Steven Perez smashed a grand slam in the bottom of the second to post a 6-1 lead. In the bottom of the third, the Lumberjacks added three more long balls as Rauly Ramirez, Eric Chavarria and Tyresse Turner struck for consecutive homers, part of a four-run surge to take a 10-3 lead. Then in the fifth, the Lumberjacks added five more runs and a homer from Gaven Palagonia.
Lumberjacks pitcher Matthew Doan, who joined the team at age 9, started the contest. However, Mikey Elliot earned the win and Chavarria recorded the save.
The team finished with a 10-0 record, allowing nine runs and scoring 137. In all, nine players blasted home runs. That list included the following: Elliott, who topped the team with 10; Steven Perez, who hit four; Ramirez, who had five; Kenui Huey, who knocked three; Justin Sullivan, Palagonia, Doan and Chavarria all ended with two; and Turner recorded one.
After going 6-0 in pool play, the Lumberjacks earned the No. 1 seed, starting the first round of the playoffs with a 10-0 mercy-rule victory against the Long Island Braves of New York. In the quarterfinal round, it topped Champaign Dream from Illinois, 12-1, with another mercy-rule win – this time in five innings.
In the semifinal, the Lumberjacks defeated Troy Titans, the best 12-U team from Illinois with a record of 80-7. Undaunted, the Lumberjacks posted a 9-0 victory against perhaps the toughest team of the tourney.