The Sebastopol Little League Junior Division All Stars played their best ball with their backs to the wall this week, winning four straight elimination games to capture the District 35 championship at Laguna Park.
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 opened the double-elimination tourney on June 23 with a 14-4 shellacking of Rincon Valley in 100-degree weather, but suffered its first loss the following day when six fielding errors led to a 5-4 defeat to Fort Bragg.
Not a problem as the local stars went on to record wins over Mark West (17-2), Healdsburg (11-4) and Fort Bragg (6-4, 22-16).
The Junior all stars will now focus on the upcoming Section 1 tournament hosted by Rincon Valley Little Leaguer beginning on July 6.
Also representing the SLL in all star District 35 action are the 10, 11 and 12-year-old teams. Below are their rosters and tournament highlights to date.
12’s
The SLL 12-year-old all stars captured one of three games in the District 35 tournament, opening up with a 21-1 loss to Santa Rosa American on June 28. The local stars defeated Healdsburg (8-0) but were eliminated on July 1 with a 16-12 loss to Rincon Valley.
The team was led by manager Tony Simoncini and coaches Don Stewart and Ronald Slack. The roster included Ben Stewart, Cole Williams, Colton Slack, Traver Huggins, Jonah Knuth, Joey Sinigiani, Liam Drake, Marco Conti, Zack Homan, Zack Muzio, Vinnie Simoncini, Nicholas Wilson and Elliott Meechan.
11’s
The SLL 11-year-old all stars gained a split in their first pair of District 35 outings, opening up on June 30 with a win over Santa Rosa American before dropping a 12-1 loss to Petaluma American. At press time Sebastopol was to play an elimination game on Tuesday, July 3 in Ukiah.
The team is led by manager Joe Cicero and the roster features Givanni Lamothe, Jonas Kemps, Luca Cicero, Lars Kristensen, Matthew Hagemann, Madden White, Landon Avila, Oliver Parodi, Matthias Munzar, Matthew Topham and Kyle Russell.
10’s
The SLL 10-year-old all stars made a quick exit from their District 35 tournament, opening up with losses to Petaluma National (10-0) and Petaluma American (16-0). The team was led by manager Steve Silvestrich and coach Jacobs. The roster included Matteo Doffing, Wyatt O’Brien, Abigail Silvestrich, Nicolaus White, Brantz Jacobs, Thomas Simmons, Evan Weekley, Benjamin Parodi, Gustav Branyan, Corbin Thompson, Kai Esterkyn, Kaleb Jacobs and Gannon Drake.
