YOUTH SPORTS: Campbell Minors Team Topped in District 44 Finals

The Campbell Little League minor division champions saw its District 44 Tournament of Champions title run end at the hands of one stingy opponent on the mound.

Santa Clara Westside Red Sox starting pitcher Jonah Advincula took a no-hitter into the final inning of play, aiding SC Westside’s 9-2 victory in the Minors TOC championship game held at Moreland Little League Wednesday evening in San Jose.

Advincula only yielded one hit and one walk along the way, striking out 11 Campbell hitters in the minors finale.

Devin Hiraki drew a walk in the bottom of the third to break up the perfect game. After a couple close calls, including a zinging shot by lead-off man Evan Williams that landed just foul down the left field line in the fourth, Campbell finally broke up the spotless outing in the sixth.

Catcher Logan Krahenbuhl jumped on the first pitch he saw and lined a single to right field. He would later score the first of two late Campbell tallies in the frame.

“Last year, this team didn’t even win a game in our Campbell league,” Campbell head coach Garey Williams said. “To be honest, never did I think we would win our division in Campbell. This team kept improving and we were able to do it. They never stopped having fun out there.”

SC Westside scored two runs in the first and five more runs in the second inning to take a commanding 7-0 lead after two.

Shortstop Evan Williams took the ball in relief during the middle of the second inning. Williams allowed three earned runs and struck out six Red Sox hitters during two innings of work.

Down 9-0 going into the bottom half of the sixth, Krahenbuhl singled to start a mini-rally for the home team. Two batters later, Noah Tolbert flew down the baseline and beat out an infield single off the newly entered Red Sox pitcher. On the very next pitch, Krahenbuhl scored off a wild pitch.

“One of the guys told me before the six that we need to do a war cry,” Coach Williams said. “So we all did a war cry in the dugout. Right after that, we put a couple runs on the board. That was really great to see.”

Already with one headed up score under their belt, the Campbell offense continued to hang around. Hiraki drew his second walk of the game, then watched teammate Tolbert zoom home and score off a wild pitch moments later.

Tolbert just beat the ball to the plate to give Campbell one final run during it’s impressive TOC tournament run.

“It’s all about the attitude,” Coach Williams said. “Our guys weren’t going to give up. That was a strong team over there. A very deserving winner today.”