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Sports

Babe Ruth: Tri-Valley 14s Win Regional Tournament

Bay Area team defeats Southern California to secure World Series berth, piece of history.

Tri-Valley 6, Westchester (Southern California) 4

Title game, Babe Ruth 14-year-old Pacific Southwest Regional

Surprise, Ariz.

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The Star: Casey Soltis had two RBIs and a run in the game and was the tournament MVP.

The Turning Point: After allowing two runs in the top of the fourth inning on fielding miscues, Tri-Valley held Westchester scoreless via ground-outs and fly-outs until the Southern California team scored its final run in the seventh.

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The Quote: "Whenever you get a big win like today and yesterday against Hawaii, it gives you momentum," said Daniel Jackson. "I think that will be good for us, and hopefully we can carry that on in the World Series."

Who's Next?: Tri-Valley travels to Loudoun County, Va., to represent the Pacific Southwest region in the World Series on Aug. 21-28.

The Bottom Line: This group of 14-year-olds is the first team in Tri-Valley history to make back-to-back World Series appearances.

Noteworthy: Trent Kravitz was named to the 13-year-old All-Stars all-tournament team.

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Walking through the gates of Surprise Stadium, the Tri-Valley 14-year-old All-Stars knew they had a chance to secure a return trip to the Babe Ruth World Series, but also the opportunity to make some history.

And they accomplished both.

Casey Soltis had two RBIs and a run, Josh Sprugasci scored two runs and ace Jake Dronkers struck out the final two batters in relief as Tri-Valley beat Westchester (Southern California) 6-4 in the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament final Saturday.

"In 21 years of Tri-Valley Babe Ruth, there's never been a back-to-back team going to the World Series for us, so they're the first team," said manager Paul Pluschkell. "So before we went through the gates, that was our team speech today."

Westchester, which lost to Tri-Valley 11-1 Wednesday night, scored a run off the starter Soltis, and had the bases loaded before grounding out in a double play in the top of the first inning.

"It (the double play) was great to have," Pluschkell said. "This is a team where we have a tendency to score when we need to and relax when we don't. And had they gotten those two or three runs, we still would've been in the ballgame. It would've been a little different game. But I think in the first inning, we still have time to recover."

Tri-Valley did recover with four runs of its own in the bottom of the inning, including an RBI single by Soltis, and never looked back.

"I was trying to focus on pitching," said Soltis, who was chosen the tournament MVP. "It was a little shaky. And I've been good with hitting all year, so I just had to back myself up with my hitting. Just come up with the runs."

Soltis was lifted in the fourth inning for Sam Nathan after Westchester scored two runs via a balk, passed ball and a missed tag in a run-down. With runners on first and second and one out, Nathan forced two fly-outs to end the inning.

"I needed to hold them and get us back in the dugout again because those runs were two big runs," Nathan said. "If I were to give those up, they would've been right back in the game."

Soltis added his second RBI of the game in the bottom of the fourth with a single over first base to score Sprugasci.

"I felt really on when I was batting today," Soltis said. "I was seeing the ball really well and I've been doing pretty good most of the tournament and most of the season, but today I finally started feeling like I could really take it on, so I got a couple of good hits. I was feeling good."

Tri-Valley also capitalized on four Westchester errors.

"Unfortunately for them, they were tired and you could tell," Pluschkell said. "They came back and what a run it is to get back to where they did (from the bottom bracket), and so my hat is off to them. We got the breaks that they were a little tired today."

Noah Robbins added an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to give Nathan some breathing room. But the reliever allowed two consecutive singles in the top of the seventh and was pulled for Dronkers, who struck out N.J. Omouryi and Ryan Barbarian to punch Tri-Valley's ticket to history and Loudoun County, Va.

"There were runners on base, so I just needed to throw lots of strikes and try to get us the championship, and it ended up working out," Dronkers said. "I was just super stoked and I went down to my knees (on the mound) because I was so excited."

Four Tri-Valley players received awards for their performances en route to winning the regional.

Sprugasci and Dronkers were all-tournament selections.

"It's such an honor," Dronkers said. "It's very important because I want to be the best I can be out there. So to get an award like that, it shows me that I'm working hard enough. But there's always better, though."

Daniel Jackson received the Tommy Jones Victory Award, named for the late  former player, manager, coach and executive.

"It feels good and I'm honored to get it because everyone out here has the desire to win, and I'm just glad they chose me," Jackson said.

And Soltis was recognized as the tournament's best.

"It feels pretty cool," he said. "It hasn't really hit me yet."

Tri-Valley, which lost 8-7 in last year's World Series final, returns to practice next week and then flies to Virginia.

"We got the (regional) championship and won't settle for anything less, so I'm feeling pretty good," Soltis said. "Coming in second last year, we've got unfinished business. We've got to take care of it."

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