Pre-Tournament
July 31- August 1, 2004
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Fresno Pre-Tournament July 31- August 1, 2004 |
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Alameda World Team Evens the Score in Fresno
Two weekends ago, the Fresno World Baseball Team visited Alameda for a 3-game tournament versus the Alameda World Team (15 and Under Boys). Fresno won two of the three games and outscored the hometown boys 18-4, giving rise to concerns about the local team’s offensive capabilities.
This past weekend, however, the Alameda team traveled to Fresno for another 3-game tournament and faired much better. This time the teams split evenly, a win apiece plus one tie, with Alameda outscoring Fresno 14-10.
Game 1, 7-6
FRESNO
This
was the one that got away. Alameda lead 6-1 midway through the sixth inning,
only to see Fresno roar back in the bottom of the inning and score six runs of
their own to take the lead. Up until that point, starter Zack Boyd (Encinal
High) had pitched a great game, allowing 1 run on only 3 hits. But the Fresno
bats woke up after that and 7 quick hits plus a walk fueled the big Fresno
rally. For Alameda, Zack Braband (St. Josephs) and Doug Murray (El Cerrito High)
both went 2-3 at the plate. Chad Zupfer, Bryan Gerhard (both from Castro Valley
High), Mario Hollands (El Cerrito) and Jeff Murphy (Alameda High) all added
hits.
Game 2, 5-0
ALAMEDA
The
first two games were more or less split-squad affairs, with two largely
different Alameda teams taking the field in each game. In Game 2, Jordan Pries
(Alameda High) went the distance on the mound, shutting out Fresno on 3 hits.
Solid defense by Alameda also helped secure the shutout and the win. At the
plate for Alameda, Brian Peterson (Alameda High) went 3-4 with a double, and
Devin Grigg (Alameda High) went 2-4 also with a double. Additional hits were
contributed by Hollands (El Cerrito), Braband (St. Joes), Pries (Alameda), KJ
Arnerich (Alameda) and Zupfer (Castro Valley). Zupfer ignited the big 5th inning
rally with a booming solo homerun over the left field fence.
Game 3, 3-3
TIE (10
innings)
This
final game of the series was suppose to be the tie-breaker, but instead ended in
a tie, which is perhaps appropriate for these two evenly matched squads. The
teams battled for 10 innings, but just couldn’t break the 3-3 tie. Alameda
sent three pitchers to the mound in this one, and all put in solid performances.
Mario Hollands (El Cerrito) started and went 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3
hits. KJ Arnerich (Alameda) then took over the pitching duties, went 3 innings
and allowed 1 run, on 2 hits. Doug Murray (El Cerrito) closed out the contest
allowing zero runs on 1 hit. Offensively, Alameda took advantage of Fresno
miscues (together with some key hits) to score all three of their runs. In the
3rd, Arnerich reached base on an error and scored when Zupfer ripped a double off
the right field fence. In the 7th Devin Grigg (Alameda) was hit by a pitch and
scored from 1st when Jeff Perri (Bishop O’Dowd) hit a single to right on a
hit-and-run play and Grigg – who had reached 3rd on the play – dashed for
home when he noticed the fielder being a little too casual returning the ball to
the infield. Alameda’s final run was scored when Zupfer also was hit by a
pitch, was advanced to 3rd on hits by Arnerich and Todd Surdez (Northgate High),
and was finally knocked in by Jordan Pries (Alameda). The defensive play of the
game was a clutch headlong diving catch by outfielder Jeff Murphy (Alameda) in
left-center field.
During both tournament weekends, the players from the visiting team were “homestayed” with families of the host team. Over the two weekends, the boys all had a great time together and made a lot of new friends.
The two teams will now travel to San Diego this coming weekend for the 23rd Annual World Tournament. The two squads are in separate brackets, however, so the only way the two can meet again this year would be if they both make it to the finals. Teams from Italy, China, Mexico, Brazil, San Diego, Korea and Japan will also be participating in this tournament.
Alameda’s first game in the tournament is against Italy on Monday, March 9 at 9am. Fresno’s first game is against Mexico-Rojo, same date and time, different field.
