San Ramon All Stars Open Big in District Tournament

San Ramon 11, Canyon Creek 5

The Star: For the second game in a row, San Ramon's starting pitcher gave a star performance. Brenden Schooley threw 3 and 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts in addition to scoring all four times he stepped up to the plate.

The Turning Point: San Ramon had a 6-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning, but Canyon Creek rallied back with five runs, capitalizing on outfield errors. Staying cool under pressure, San Ramon recovered with five runs in the sixth to ensure victory.

The Quote: "The good thing was that we didn’t panic after it was 6-5, and we bounced back with five runs in the sixth,” said San Ramon coach Todd Meyer.

What's next? With its win, San Ramon moves on to face Danville in the third round of the District 57 All Star Tournament at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Canyon Creek moves to the tournament’s elimination bracket and will play Pleasanton National Monday.

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The 10-year-old San Ramon All Star team showed for the second game in a row that putting runs on the scoreboard is not a problem, as players celebrated an 11-5 victory over Canyon Creek on Sunday in the second round of the District 57 All Star Tournament.

Despite what the scoreline may suggest, the game proved to be a close call for San Ramon.

After extending the lead to 6-0 with a two-run homer from Jack Hinds in the top of the fifth, San Ramon allowed Canyon Creek to rally back with five runs. Two big errors in the outfield contributed to Canyon Creek's comeback, said San Ramon coach Todd Meyer.

But San Ramon players were not phased by Canyon Creek's rally. With two outs and runners on second and third, Brenden Schooley managed to get the final out after Canyon Creek hit dangerous line drive to third base.

Then it was the San Ramon players' turn to recover with their own late-game rally.

“The good thing was that we didn’t panic after it was 6-5, and we bounced back with five runs in the sixth," said Meyer. “One of the things we talked about was that games aren’t going to be as easy as Saturday’s. The team came through against Canyon Creek.”

Integral to San Ramon's win was starting pitcher Brenden Schooley who earned five strikeouts and gave up only one hit in three and 2/3 scoreless innings.

Schooley was also active at the plate, getting on base for all four of his at-bats.

Hinds, who hit the fifth-inning homer, finished with four RBIs. Jack Jones also hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning and had three RBIs in the game.

In its two wins so far in the All Star Tournament, San Ramon has scored 30 runs and hit four home runs, and the team is hoping to continue with its success at the plate.

“Our pitchers need to continue to throw strikes, and hopefully we'll put up a ton of runs again," said Meyer.

San Ramon will play against Danville on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

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Inning                     1    2    3    4    5    6        Total
San Ramon             1    0    2    0    3    5        11
Canyon Creek        0    0    0    0    5    0         5

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The Star: San Ramon relied on a strong performance from starting pitcher Andrew Meyer, who was active on the mound and at the plate. Meyer finished with six strikeouts in his three innings pitched, and hit three doubles.

The Turning Point: San Ramon started out strong and had a comfortable 9-1 lead at the end of the third. But a smashing three-run homer from first baseman Jack Jones in the beginning of the fourth inning sealed the victory and began a 10-run rally for San Ramon.

The Quote: "We talk a lot about quality at-bats," said San Ramon coach Todd Meyer. "We get every player to step up to the plate thinking about hitting a line drive, and they all executed outstandingly today."

What's next? With its win, San Ramon moves on to face Canyon Creek on Sunday in the second round of the District 57 All Star Tournament. Pleasanton Foothill moves to the tournament’s elimination bracket and will play Tuesday.

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The bats were swinging all game for the 10-year-old San Ramon All Star team in their 19-2 win over Pleasanton Foothill on Saturday during the first round of the District 57 All StarTournament.

San Ramon wasted no time getting on the board, taking a 3-0 lead after the first inning. A six-run third inning led into a 10-run fourth, solidifying the victory.

"We talk a lot about quality at-bats," said San Ramon coach Todd Meyer. "We get every player to step up to the plate thinking about hitting a line drive, and they all executed outstandingly today."

The two biggest hits of the day came in the fourth inning with a three-run homer from Jack Jones and a two-run homer from Luke Rocha off of Pleasanton pitcher Jeremy Lea.

Despite putting three different pitchers on the mound in the fourth, Pleasanton was unable to stop the San Ramon hitters from putting the ball in play.

Conversely, starting pitcher Andrew Meyer set the tone for San Ramon's defense when he struck out the first two batters of the game. Meyer, earning six strikeouts, allowed only one hit and one run during his three innings on the mound.

"I tried to stay confident and get ahead in the count early," he said.

Apart from taking charge of the San Ramon defense, Meyer also did his part at the plate, scoring all four times he came up to bat and hitting two doubles.

Pleasanton's loss was a disappointing start to the district tournament, but after the game coach Steve Chipman encouraged his players to put their best effort in next round.

"We underperformed, but we appreciate how good the other team was today," he said. "We're looking to play up to our expectations, which are much higher than today's outcome."

Pleasanton Foothill, now relegated to the elimination bracket, still has a chance to make it to the finals, but the team will have to win all of their remaining matches.

With its crushing victory, San Ramon moves on to the second round of the tournament, facing Canyon Creek on Sunday.

Coach Meyer stressed to his players the importance of continuing to play at their highest level.

"We have to understand that the score of tomorrow's game starts at zero-zero," he said. "We just need to play San Ramon baseball, and we'll be fine."

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San Ramon     3 0 6 10 X X - 19 14 2

Pleasanton Foothill    0 1 0 1 X X - 2 3 1

San Ramon (ab-r-h) Schooley 4-2-1, Coulson 4-3-2, Meyer 4-4-3, Hinds 4-2-2, Jones 4-1-2, Ruschell 4-2-0, Benno 1-0-0, Williams 3-1-1, Keller 2-1-1, Rocha 2-2-1, Portoni 1-1-1; Totals 33-19-14.

Pleasanton Foothill (ab-r-h) Camp 2-0-0, Robinson 2-0-0, Lea 2-0-0, Skerl 2-2-1, Derham 2-0-1, Koul 1-0-1, Tupina 1-0-0, Chipman 2-0-0, Cristwell 2-0-0, Narciso 1-0-0, Maas 1-0-0; Totals 18-2-3.

Pitching

San Ramon: Meyer 3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 6 K, 1 BB; Ruschell 1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 K, 0 BB.

Pleasanton Foothill: Cristwell 2,2/3 IP, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 H, 0 K, 3 BB; Lea 2/3 IP, 8 R, 8 ER, 7 H, 0 K, 1 BB, 1 HBP; Derham 1/3 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 H, 1 K, 2 BB; Camp 1/3 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 K, 0 BB.

Batting

2B - Schooley (SR), 2 Meyer (SR), Hinds (SR), Skerl (PF)
HR – Jones (SR), Rocha (SR)
RBI - 2 Schooley (SR), Coulson (SR), Meyer (SR), 3 Hinds (SR), 4 Jones (SR), 2 Rocha (SR), Williams (SR), Derham (PF), Koul (PF)