Little League All Stars: Danville 11s Repeat as District 57 Champions

The Star: Jared Dawson and Jack Morgan both had three hits in the win for Danville.

The Turning Point: Danville leadoff hitter Nick Venezia walked to leadoff the game and went to third on a pair of wild pitches before Ryan Bowman knocked him in to give Danville the only run it would need.

The Quote: "This was the best the boys have played all year," Danville coach Mark Dawson said. "They were firing on all cylinders."

What's next? Danville will represent District 57 in the Section 3 tournament, which will be hosted by Fremont's Mission San Jose Little League beginning July 17. 

Bottom Line: The youngsters from Danville were clearly the best team in the tournament. 

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If the Danville Little League 11-year-old All Star team continues to play like it did Wednesday for the rest of the summer, its' chances of repeating as Northern California champions will be pretty good.

In its prior three games — all shutout victories — Danville was good, but in its 16-0 victory against Canyon Creek at San Ramon's Athan Downs park, the team was on another level.

"This was the best the boys have played all year," Danville coach Mark Dawson said. "They were firing on all cylinders."

And they started early.

Nick Venezia drew a leadoff walk in the first inning and and scored on No. 2 hitter Ryan Bowman's single to give Danville the only run it would need. Darroch Koel and Jack Morgan added singles in the inning as Danville took a 3-0 lead.

With Venezia, Bowman and Jared Dawson in control on the mound, the game's outcome was never in doubt. The trio combined to allow just two hits in the game which lasted four innings due to the 10-run rule. 

"Everybody hit really well and all the pitchers were hitting their spots," Jared Dawson said. "(Canyon Creek) has some good players, but our bats just came alive."

After a scoreless second, Danville's first six hitters of the third reached base to spark a nine-run inning. Billy Factaeu's opposite-field double down the right field line highlighted the inning which also saw doubles from Bowman and Dawson.

With the win, Danville advances to the Section 3 tournament, which will be hosted by Union City American and begin on July 17. 

As 10-year-olds, Danville won the District, Section and Divisional tournaments to be crowned Northern California champions. 

"This was just the first step for us," coach Dawson said. "Like I told the kids, they can go a long way if they keep giving 100 percent."

Canyon Creek ran off five-straight wins to get to the championship after losing to Tassajara Valley National in its first game of the tournament.

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Danville 16, Canyon Creek 0

Danville 309 4 - 16 16 0
Canyon Creek 000 0 - 0 2 1

Danville (ab-r-h) — Venezia 3-3-2, Bowman 4-1-2, Dawson 4-3-3, Koel 4-1-3, Redmond 3-1-1, Lonestar 1-1-0, Bartnick 2-1-1, Batza 2-1-1, Factaeu 1-1-1, Banks 0-1-0, de Flores 1-0-0. 

Canyon Creek (ab-r-h) — Nelson 2-0-1, Mahony 2-0-0, Eder 1-0-0, Van Loon 1-0-0, Tacconi 2-0-0, Zarate 2-0-1, Clark 2-0-0, Neswick 1-0-0, Liscano 0-0-0, Patel 1-0-0. 

Pitching

Danville: Venezia 2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K; Bowman 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 K; Dawson 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K.

Hitting
2B — Factaeu (D), Bowman (D), Dawson (D), Venezia (D), Morgan (D). 3B — Nelson (CC).