Babe Ruth: Tri-Valley 13s Defeat Central California at Regional

Tri-Valley 12, Orcutt (Central California) 8

Second round, Babe Ruth 13-year-old Pacific Southwest Regional

Surprise, Ariz.

The Star: Trent Kravitz was perfect at the plate, going 5 for 5 in the leadoff spot with two RBIs.

The Turning Point: Facing a 4-2 deficit after the first inning, Tri-Valley answered with six runs in the bottom of the second inning and never relinquished the lead again.

The Quote: "All 15 players played in the game and contributed, so it was a team effort," Tri-Valley manager Ken Franco said. "A very scrappy Orcutt team scored 16 runs the night before and put a lot of pressure on us defensively."

Who's Next?: Tri-Valley has Thursday off and will play Torrance (Southern California), which beat South Reno (Nevada), on Friday in the winners' bracket semifinals.

The Bottom Line: Tri-Valley is facing a good Torrance team, according to Franco, but have tabbed ace left-hander Justin Hooper as the probable starting pitching for Friday. Hooper is coming off Wednesday's complete-game shutout with seven strikeouts against Somerton (Arizona).

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Sam Cabral prefers catching to pitching, but you couldn't tell Wednesday night. The right-hander threw six innings to help lead the Tri-Valley 13-year-old All-Stars over Orcutt (Central California) 12-8 at the Babe Ruth Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament.

Cabral, who plays the position behind home plate when he's not pitching, was saddled with a 4-0 deficit going into the bottom of the first inning.

"I was just trying to throw strikes," he said. "I knew I had a good defense behind me even though the first inning happened like that. I knew our bats were going to come through in the end, so I didn't have that many worries."

And Tri-Valley's offense did deliver, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the first and exploding for six runs in the second, giving Cabral some breathing room.

"Sam Cabral pitched six great innings," Tri-Valley manager Ken Franco said. "When we got that big rally, not only did we take the lead, but we put an 8-to-4 cushion on it. Then the game changed because we put the pressure back on them."

Helping add to the cushion was leadoff hitter Trent Kravitz, who had a big night at the plate, going 5 for 5 with two RBIs. Kravitz's two-run double in the fourth extended the lead and Tri-Valley added two more runs in the inning.

"We kept chipping away at it," Franco said. "It's a long game. I told them 'Don't worry. Keep competing. Stay with it and things will work out.' "

Collin Miller relieved Cabral in the sixth inning and Orcutt rallied to score four runs. Josh Domingo came in for Miller in the seventh and got the save with a strikeout, a fly-out and ground-out.

Cabral, who said he likes the feeling of catching, will be back in his comfort zone Friday as part of the battery with ace Justin Hooper, who is Tri-Valley's probable starter against Torrance (Southern California).

"Friday is going to be tough," Cabral said. "I've heard they're a good team. Hooper is going to throw, though. He usually does well and our bats are probably going to come through, but I heard these guys have a good pitcher."

Franco will run a light practice today and make sure his players rest and relax on the off day, a reward for winning the first two games of the tournament. But Torrance (Southern California) isn't far from his mind.

"They're (Torrance) a very good ball club, so we'll have to do our very best," he said. "They play year round and they pitch and hit very well. Now, we're down to some pretty quality teams in the southwestern region of the United States. They're ballers for sure."

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Tri-Valley 12, Orcutt (Central Calif.) 8

Orcutt 400 004 0 — 8 12 2

Tri-Valley 260 400 x — 12 10 1

Orcutt (ab-r-h) — Curiel 4-2-1, Ramos 3-2-2, Wink 3-2-2, Runions 4-1-1, Sewell 4-0-2, Spadarrotto 2-0-1, Sanchez 2-0-1, Cochiolo 0-0-0, Wilson 2-0-0, Horton 1-0-0, Stagnaro 2-1-1. 

Tri-Valley (ab-r-h) — Kravitz 5-2-5, Lonestar 2-2-1, DeLillo 3-0-0, Kinney 1-1-0, Domingo 4-1-0, Synder 2-1-1, Hooper 1-0-0, Henley 3-1-1, Groleau 1-0-0, Miller 3-2-1, Cabral 3-2-1. 

Pitching

Orcutt

Ramos 2 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K; Spadarrotto 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K; Curiel 3 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K.

Tri-Valley

Cabral 5 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 0 K; Miller 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 K; Domingo 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.

Hitting

Tri-Valley

2B: T.Kravitz 3 (3), T.Lonestar (1), C.Miller (1), S.Cabral (1).
HP: S.Cabral (1).
RBI: T.Kravitz 2 (2), T.Lonestar (1), A.DeLillo (1), J.Kinney (1), J.Domingo (1), M.Snyder (1), S.Cabral (1).
CS: T.Kravitz (1).
SB: T.Kravitz 2 (2), T.Lonestar 3 (3), M.Snyder (1).
Team LOB: 9.

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