Air Jordan
Thousand Oak's Jordan Brower contributes on mound and with bat in
3-1 win over Lincoln
By
Mark Rogoff
Jordan Brower, Tyler
Karp and Sean McIntyre all had one-inning auditions on the hill in
Thousand Oak's first game at the Little League World Series, a 9-2
win over Morganton, North Carolina.
Brower gave up two
runs on three hits in his inning of work while Karp allowed a pair
of base hits in a scoreless frame. McIntyre struck out two in a
shutout inning and looked the best, according to manager Tom
Ginther. He therefore got the nod in Thousand Oak's tilt with
Davenport the next day.
How did Brower feel
about not pitching against the Midwest champs?
"No, it didn't bother
me," he said.
And that most
definitely showed Tuesday when Ginther sent him to the mound
against Lincoln in the final pool play game for both teams.
The right-hander
tossed five innings of one-run ball and knocked in what proved to
be the winning run with an RBI single in the third as Thousand
Oaks locked up the Number One seed in Pool A, improving to a
perfect 3-0 with a 3-1 triumph over Lincoln (1-2) in front of
4,784 at Volunteer Stadium.
"That was my first
game on TV and I was nervous," Brower said of his first pitching
appearance. "I got the feel of how it was."
Brower threw an array
of pitches at the Lincoln hitters, limiting them to just 3 hits.
After giving up a leadoff single in the second, he retired 12 in a
row to complete his outing.
"Today my curveball
was working and my knuckleball was going for strikes," he said.
Chris Constantino was
equally impressive on the mound for Lincoln, allowing three runs
(one earned) on four hits and a pair of walks. The right-hander
struck out nine.
"He's got the heart of
a lion," said Lincoln coach Steve Rhault. "He's been fighting a
bad back, but he came out and gave his all."
Constantino
staked Lincoln to an early 1-0 lead, driving in Damon Divozzi with
an RBI single to right in the first. Divozzi had led off the game
with a double to right-center field and advanced to third on
Jeremy Rhault's groundout to James Brady at second.
"After that first
inning, Jordan settled down and did a great job," Ginther said.
The Conejo Valley
Little Leaguers evened the score at 1-1 in the second when James
Brady's two-out infield single plated Tyler Karp from third.
After Brower's hit put
Thousand Oaks up for good in the third inning, Danny Leon scored
from third on a passed ball in the fifth for some insurance. Cody
Thomson struck out one in a scoreless sixth for the save.
"We struck out nine
times, but we got the bat on the ball enough to win the ballgame,"
Ginther said. "I think we're having some fun now."
Rhault was impressed
with Thousand Oaks, calling them "the team to beat" in South
Williamsport.
"They've got the total
package," he said. "To keep a team like that to three runs, you
got to be happy with that."
With the win, Thousand
Oaks locked up a spot in Thursday's United States semi-final
against the second-place club from Pool B.
Click here
for box scores
