Members of the San Marino National Little League 7-9 All-Star baseball team celebrate their 8-5 victory over Pasadena American Little League on Monday. The squad is the first to ever win the District 17 title in their division.
The San Marino National Little League 7-9 All-Star baseball team made history on Monday by winning the District 17 championship with an 8-5 victory over Pasadena American Little League at Longden Field in Arcadia.
The District title is first for SMNLL in the 7-9 division.
“That’s a big achievement there,” said coach Phil Piccinini. “This team is special because no other group has won it. They have formed strong friendships and bonds and worked hard over the past six weeks.”
The local squad jumped out to three-run lead with five consecutive hits in the first inning. San Marino never trailed in the game, but Pasadena American kept fighting.
PALL scored in the bottom of the fifth inning to get within one run, 6-5, but San Marino added two key runs in the top of the sixth to pull away from its opponent. Charlie Danenhauer’s big lead from first base forced the PALL catcher to throw the ball, which sailed into the outfield. Danenhauer scored on the error, and Alex Chui later scored on a passed ball.
“Those were huge,” Piccinini said. “Anytime you can put insurance runs on the board going into the final inning is great.”
It was more than enough for pitcher Bradley McCroskey, who shut the door on Pasadena American for the win. The pitching staff, which includes McCroskey, Hunter Piccinini and Douglas Duncan, stepped up on Monday and held a team that entered the contest averaging 11 runs per contest at bay.
“That’s the reason why were able to seal this victory,” Piccinini said. “Our pitching was outstanding. Hunter, Dougie and Bradley did an amazing job on the mound.”
The pitchers shone because of the defense behind them. Their teammates rarely committed errors and got key outs when the ball was in play.
“Our defense was just fantastic,” Piccinini said. “We had bases loaded with no outs twice against Pasadena American. We got out of that twice because of our unbelievable defense.”
San Marino finished the tournament with a 4-1 record, defeating PALL twice as well as Santa Anita and Sierra Madre. The local team moves on to compete in Sectionals.
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