The Sebastopol Little League Junior Division All Stars are alive and well in District 35 tournament action at Laguna Park, capturing two wins in their first three games to advance to the quarterfinals.
The Junior stars, led by manager JP Merlaud and coaches Jim Brown and Geoff Fox, includes players Henry Baggett, Hunter Cassatt, Colin Davis, Meyer Feilecan, Jacob Fitch, Ahren Fowles-Parnay, Brenden Fox, Miles Gaberman, Ruben Guiterrez, Kyle Hardesty, Cade Martignoli, Devin O’Brien, Reid Olson and Aaron Knuth.
Sebastopol, which serves as the District 35 tournament host, opened the double-elimination tourney on June 23 with a 14-4 drubbing over Rincon Valley in near 100-degree weather. The team suffered its first setback the following day when six fielding errors led to a 5-4 loss to Fort Bragg.
“Hats off to Fort Bragg,” Merlaud said later. “They beat us, but I think the heat took the energy out of us that weekend.”
Sebastopol played its third game in as many days on June 25, riding the strong arm of Colin Davis in a 17-2 rout over Mark West.
“Davis pitched fantastic,” Merlaud noted. “We were very fortunate that he was able to pitch as well as he did.”
At press time the juniors were preparing for a June 26 rematch with Rincon Valley, their fourth straight ball-game. Should Sebastopol win, it will advance to the semifinals on June 28 at 5 p.m., with the championship game slated for June 30 at 10 a.m.
“We’re blessed to have a great group of kids and great chemistry on this team,” Merlaud said. “We’re carrying 13 players so at any given time we have four kids on the bench, but they’re very unselfish and I’ve never heard anyone complain.”
