Sports
A’s Win Majors Championship to Cap Poway Little League’s 50th Year
Strong defense and early scoring gave the A's the championship and shot at the Tournament of Champions next week.
Poway American Little League’s 50th year ended on a ground ball. It was that ground ball that crowned the Majors A’s the playoff champion, defeating the Angels 5 to 1.
The A’s scored four runs in the first thanks to catcher and third baseman Trevor Pasenelli’s first home run of the year, a three-run shot that gave the A’s all the runs they would need.
“That set the whole game up for us. It was the first inning and it was a three-run home run, our guys are on cloud nine and they are flat because they are losing 4-0,” said A’s Coach Clark Artaud. “That three-run home run was most of the offense we had all game.”
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Pasenelli described what it was like after he hit the ball.
“When I hit it I thought it was going to go off the fence, then I started slowing down as I saw it go over the fence,” he said.
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A’s pitcher Javier Olivo pitched the complete game, giving up only one earned run while striking out seven and not walking a batter.
“I knew it was going to be a tough battle, but in the end we ended up on top,” Oliver said.
Artaud thought his team played brilliantly.
“They played phenomenal, they really played as a team and made all the defensive plays, they united together, got good hits, and had good base running,” he said.
The A’s defense made several great plays that prevented the Angels from scoring, a big reason for their win.
For the Angels, Carlo Escobar went 2-3 and Justin Miller pitched the complete game, giving up all four runs and striking out four.
“I told them, over a course of a 20-game season we were the best team, we finished in first place and they were the better team today,” Angels Coach Dave Miller said.
Despite losing, Miller said, “I feel like we are all winners, we have a first- and second-place trophy and the A’s have a first- and second-place trophy.”
When asked to describe what winning the championship game felt like, both Oliver and Pasenelli described it as “awesome.”
“I can’t believe it, I was nervous, and the fact that they are out there performing at the level they did is a testament to the team,” Artaud said.
In Minor A, the Angels defeated the White Sox and in Minor B the Tigers defeated the Twins to finish up their season as well.
