Sports
West L.A. All-Stars Can't Close the Show
The 11-12 Little Leaguers fell to Ladera to set up a decisive game Monday.
It all comes down to one game.
West Los Angeles and Ladera will meet for the third time Monday at 5 p.m. to decide the Little League Baseball 11- and 12-year-old District 25 All-Star championship at Bill Botts Field in Culver City.
After defeating Ladera 12-8 in the finals of the winner's bracket, West LA had a chance to clinch the title with a victory Saturday, but lost to its archrival 14-9 to force Monday's winner-take-all contest.
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"It was a great battle, but they hit our pitching better than we hit their pitching," West LA Manager Dave Georgeff said. "They got the timely hits and we ran ourselves into two outs but you have to stay aggressive against those guys."
Matt Thomas hit a home run, Alex Mills had two runs, two hits and three RBIs and Leon Bucksbaum added two hits and two RBIs for West LA, which led 6-5 after two innings but was outscored 9-3 over the final four frames.
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Mills was also the starting pitcher and gave up six runs on eight hits with five strikeouts in two and one third innings. Bucksbaum pitched two innings, allowing six runs on four hits.
In the first two games between the teams--a total of 12 innings--the difference has been one run. West LA won the coin flip and will be the home team again Monday, meaning it will have the last at-bat.
"As 10-year-olds we won the District, as 11-year-olds they did and this year it's going to be one of us again," Georgeff said of West LA's rivalry against Ladera. "The last two years I've coached our [regular season] teams have met them in the finals of the Tournament of Champions and they've beaten me both times--this year and last year."
Thomas, who has clubbed six home runs in four tournament games, addressed his teammates after the game, encouraging them to stay positive and focus on the task at hand.
"It all comes down to the next six innings," he said. "That's just one battle and they won that battle, now we have to win the war."
Jimmy Douglas, Jake Georgeff, Isaac Gadinsky and Justin Hirschberg each had one hit for West LA.
