Maidu claims District 54 Little League Major championship

Woodcreek and Maidu battled for the District 54 Little League Major All-Star Championship on Saturday night at Mann Park in Folsom. The two best teams in the district with their two biggest players on the mound facing off against each other; Woodcreek's Brody Krupp and Maidu's Chase Bentley stand a good head above most other 12-year-olds. Both pitched exceptional ball games and provided big bats at the plate, as each hit monstrous solo home runs. In the end, it was Maidu winning a competitive, entertaining game, 5-3, to win the District 54 title. It was a repeat of last year's District 54, 10-11-year-old championship game, which also saw Maidu defeat Woodcreek. "My hat's off to Maidu," Woodcreek Manager Chris Lindsay said. "That's a great team. We've played them the last few years and they always beat us. It always comes down to this game and we've come out on the losing end. It's a pleasure to play them, though. They're a good group of kids, and all these kids know each other." Maidu Manager Bryan Bentley has a lot of respect for Woodcreek. "They always compete and play us tough in the big games," Bentley said. The most offensive inning of the game was the first, as visiting Maidu scored two runs in the top of the first inning. KC Tibbets reached first on an infield single to second base, and then Bentley struck out, but beat the throw from catcher Connor Stephens to first base. Krupp got two consecutive outs before Shane Maloney hit a ground-rule double to center field to score two runs and put Maidu in front. Woodcreek answered with one run in the bottom of the inning. Chris Fisher singled, but was forced out at second on Aaron Palmer's groundout. Palmer then came around to score on wild pitches. Each team scored singles runs in the second inning. Maidu's Logan Crabtree walked, moved to second on Tibbets' second hit of the game before scoring on Bentley's single to center field. Krupp brought the lead back to one in the bottom of the inning with a low, line drive solo home run to center field, as Woodcreek trailed 3-2 after two innings. The scored remained 3-2 until the fifth inning. Krupp reached the pitch count limit after getting the first out in the fifth inning. He pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits, while striking out seven. Maidu managed a run off reliever Eric Jensen. With two outs, Quincy Anderson walked and Beau Ogles singled to put two runners on. Nathan Spermuto followed with a clutch double off the top of the fence in center field to drive in Anderson and make the score 4-2. Bentley increased the lead to 5-2 in the top of the sixth with a towering home run to center field. Down to their final outs, Woodcreek didn't wilt against Bentley, who had thrown only 53 pitches through five innings and allowed two runs on two hits, while striking out six. Stephens led off the inning with a single before Fisher was hit by a pitch, which brought the tying run to the plate. A wild pitch moved the runners up a base, and then Palmer's groundout to third base scored Stephens and made the score 5-3. Bryson Ruiz then ripped a line drive to center field that Anderson squeezed for the second out of the inning. Bentley then stuck out Caleb Peck looking to end the game. "Chase didn't have his best stuff and was overthrowing early, but our defense made some big plays behind him," Coach Bentley said. "He made a mistake a got a pitch up to Krupp and he didn't miss it. He was very efficient, though, only throwing 60 some pitches." Lindsay was proud of his team's performance. "We gave them a good battle," Lindsay said. "I was very impressed with the way the kids played. What can you say about Chase Bentley. He's a monster. It was 3-2 for awhile and things settled down, and we had a chance in the end, but their center fielder made a good play." The win capped off a 4-0 tournament for Maidu. "We only gave up five hits in four games so our pitching was solid," Bentley said. "We usually hit the ball, but I would say our strength is our starting pitching." Maidu now moves on to the section tournament, which will be held in North Natomas. It's the third straight year Maidu has played in the tournament, and, in fact, Maidu placed second in the state tournament last year and finished in third place two years ago. "We're excited to move on to the section tournament," Bentley said. "Eight or nine of these kids have been there the last two years so we know what to expect."