California hurler
pitches McIntyre game
Sean McIntyre tosses
complete game shutout in 9-0 West win
By David Graham-Caso
In
a game time decision, Conejo Valley Little League manager Tom
Ginther opted to start Sean McIntyre instead of Jordan Brower, the
originally scheduled starter. The decision was a stroke of genius.
“I saw Sean throwing
yesterday (against North Carolina),” Ginther said. “And he looked
the strongest, so I made that decision to throw him today. How he
threw today is a testament to how dominant he is.”
McIntyre was
magnificent. The Thousand Oaks (2-0) lefty pitched a complete
game, one hit shutout against Davenport, Iowa (0-2). McIntyre
strung goose eggs on the scoreboard like they were Christmas
lights. Behind McIntyre’s strong left arm and a 10 run offensive
explosion, Thousand Oaks defeated Davenport 10-0 in a five inning
mercy rule shortened game.
“I was a little bit
nervous,” the California pitcher said. “But at the same time I was
really excited.”
The Thousand Oaks
offense gave their pitcher ample run support. The California team
was not shut out in any inning that they came to the dish, and
eventually notched ten runs in its five trips to the plate.
“Our pitchers are throwing hard and we are hitting the ball well,”
said first baseman Danny Leon. “If we keep playing like this we
have a pretty good shot at winning the whole thing.”
In the first inning,
McIntyre brought Danny Leon in from second with a come-backer up
the middle. The inning could have been worse for Davenport starter
Trevor Kenyon. Kenyon struck out John Lister on a full count and
then induced Cody Thompson to ground into a fielder’s choice to
escape a bases-loaded jam in the first.
The West Regional
Champions added two more runs to their lead with a two-RBI single
by Leon in the second and made the score 4-0 when James Brady
scored on a wild pitch in the third.
West poured it on in
the bottom of the fourth. Thousand Oaks scored five runs before
Davenport could record an out, and upped its lead to nine runs,
one run shy of the 10-run mercy rule. The rally was capped off by
a three run shot by Lister. Lister’s frozen rope home run was
finally cleared to land by the right-center field lighting
fixture.
“I was just trying to
hit the ball,” Lister said of his homer. “You just have to go out
and try to get a base hit, try to get a line drive, and if it goes
out, that is great.”
McIntyre got his job
done at the plate as well as on the mound. The Thousand Oaks
slugger slapped an unconventional walk-off double down the left
field line to score Leon and give Thousand Oaks a ten run
advantage, which employed the mercy rule.
Thousand Oaks will
automatically advance to a United States semifinal, should Lincoln
Rhode Island win tonight at 7 p.m. A Rhode Island win would make
both Lincoln and Thousand Oaks 2-0 in pool play and the Tuesday
morning showdown between Lincoln and Thousand Oaks would then
decide which team would get the number one seed in the single
elimination round of the tournament.
Click here
for box scores
