Babe Ruth: Tri-Valley 14s Edge Taylorsville

Tri-Valley 6, Taylorsville (Utah) 4

First round, Babe Ruth 14-year-old Pacific Southwest Regional

Surprise, Ariz.

The Stars: Right fielder Shawn Vincent and second baseman Ryan Anderson each had two RBIs. Sam Nathan got the win, allowing three hits and two runs with three strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

The Turning Point: Tri-Valley was able to secure the victory in the top of the seventh despite a two-out, two-run rally by Taylorsville (Utah).

The Quote: "We got through it," Tri-Valley manager Paul Pluschkell said. "They played us tough. We were all heart and no quit. It was a gritty, gutty performance. We're a good team, but it didn't show today."

Who's Next?: Tri-Valley will play Westchester (Southern California), who beat Hamilton (Arizona) 11-8, in the winners' bracket.

The Bottom Line: Ace Jake Dronkers will take the mound Tuesday. Dronkers is coming off a dominant outing in the Northern California title game.

Noteworthy: Before the game, Nathan won the Home Run Derby for the 14-year-olds. "It was pretty fun," he said. "It was really exciting with my team cheering me on." In addition to bragging rights, Nathan scored a 2011 Omaha bat.

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Tri-Valley 6, Taylorsville (Utah) 4

Utah 000 101 2 — 4 7 1
NorCal 003 111 x — 6 10 0 

Taylorsville (ab-r-h) — Salvador 4-0-0, Atwood 4-0-1, Hoffman 2-2-0, Stepp 3-1-2, Jones 0-1-0, Davison 1-0-1, Othon Jr. 1-0-0, Aubrey 1-0-1, Pendleton 2-0-1, Maxfield 2-0-1, Jones 1-0-0, Cook 2-0-0 . 

Tri-Valley (ab-r-h) — Sprugasci 4-0-0, Soltis 3-2-3, Dronkers 4-0-0, Jackson 2-0-0, Anderson 4-2-3, Robbins 4-1-1, Vincent 3-0-2, Santos 1-0-0, Gomez 0-0-0, Nathan 3-1-1, Franco 0-0-0. 

Pitching

Taylorsville: Atwood 6 IP, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.

Tri-Valley: Nathan 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K; Sprugasci 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.

Hitting

Tri-Valley

2B: R.Anderson (1).
HP: D.Jackson (1), C.Santos (1).
RBI: J.Dronkers (1), R.Anderson 2 (2), S.Vincent 2 (2).
CS: N.Robbins (1).
SB: R.Anderson 3 (3), N.Robbins (1), S.Vincent (1)

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