Danville Little League Yankees outslug Livermore American White Sox for Tournament of Champions title

The Star: Danville's' Conner Redmond was the catalyst for the Yankees offense. The catcher went 2 for 2 with a single, triple and a pair of walks. Redmond also had an RBI and scored three times.

The Turning Point: The Yankees' Ryan Murphy hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the third to give the team a commanding six-run lead. The Yankees would not give up this lead en route to the championship.

The Quote: "With players like Randy Winn and Nate Schierholtz coming through Danville Little League, this team had some big shoes to step into," said coach Sean Venezia. "This team represented Danville well. This has to be one of the best Danville Little League teams ever."

The Bottom Line: The Danville Little League Yankees capped off an amazing season with a dominant Tournament of Champions title. For some players, this might be their last baseball game ever while others will play well into high school. All of the players, however, will remember this year and the tremendous run through the postseason they shared.

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For 11 Danville Little Leaguers, it doesn't get much bigger than this.

The Danville Little League Yankees topped the Livermore American White Sox en route to the District 57 Majors' TOC championship.

"I am so proud of the boys," coach Sean Venezia said. "They all played so hard from late January to now, and their hard work really showed."

The Yankees route to the title started off rocky as they fell behind 2-0 on Ben Parker's home run in the top of the first. Danville quickly countered in its half of the first with three runs, led by Conner Redmond's triple.

The White Sox added two more in the top of the second on a Robbie Payne two-run homer to gain a one-run lead. This lead, however, would be short lived. The Yankees had six cross the plate in the bottom of the second to give themselves an insurmountable 9-4 lead.

Nick Venezia, Redmond and Dylan Calamone had back-to-back-to-back RBI hits in the second to lead the Danville rally.

The Yankees added four more in the bottom of the third behind a three-run home run by first baseman Ryan Murphy. The Yankees batted around the lineup in both the second and third.

The White Sox tried to create a rally late in the game behind Ben Parker's second two-run home run of the game, but the Yankees lead was too much. The Danville little leaguers added one more in the fifth to secure the 13-9 victory.

"This was definitely my favorite game of the year," Yankee catcher Conner Redmond said. "We all played pretty well and it was a real fun game."

Coach Venezia was very proud of his team and how well they played all season.

"We won this with incredible pitching and defense and some timely hitting," he said.

This was the second straight come-from-behind victory for the Yankees as they won a day earlier to earn a spot in the championship game on a late-inning home run. The Yankees also had to battle their way through the losers bracket of the Danville Little League Majors' tournament after dropping their first game.

"The team had to battle all season," Venezia said. "They never gave up and always stayed focused. To finish 27-4 and be TOC champions is not a bad result at all."

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Danville 13, Livermore American 9

White Sox 222 120 — 9 13 3

Yankees 363 01x — 13 13 2

White Sox (ab-r-h) — Payne 4-4-3, Parker 4-3-4, Moussa 3-0-0, Gonzalez 3-2-0, Ruth 4-2-0, -0, Meagler 3-1-0, Nea 1-0-0, Potter 4-1-1, Fagliano 1-0-0, Hill 1-0-1, Pinon 2-0-0, Osario 0-0-0

Yankees — Venezia 4-1-1, Redmond 2-2-1, Calamone 4-1-1, Murphy 2-1-3, Barcelona 4-3-2, Bernhardt 3-1-2, Riccio 2-2-1, Kerr 1-0-1, Facteau 2-1-1, Lerner 2-0-0, Roca 1-0-0,

Pitching

White Sox — Mousssa 2 2/3 IP, 10 ER, 11 R, 9 H, 3 BB, 3 K; Payne + IP, 2 ER, 2 R, 1 H, 3 BB, 0 K; Ruth 2 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 1 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 K

 Yankees — Barcelona 3+ IP, 7 ER, 7 R, 11 H, 2 BB, 1 K; Venezia 3 IP, 2 ER, 2 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Hitting

2B — Venezia (Yankees) 3B — Redmond (Yankees)  HR — Parker (White Sox), 1st, one on; Payne (White Sox), 2nd , one on; Murphy (Yankees), 3rd, two one; Parker (White Sox), 5th, one on.

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