Folsom little league teams struggle in 9-10 All-Star openers

The first round of the 9-10-year-old District 54 All-Star Tournament was not kind to Folsom All-Star teams. A day after Folsom American dropped a 15-0 decision to Woodcreek, Folsom National lost to Lakeside, 17-2. Both games only went four innings because of the 10-run mercy rule. Ten of Lakeside's 14 players had hits; two by Curtis Otvos, and one each by Dylan Gutierrez, Dominic Galuppo, Charlie Anderson, Joshua Wiederhold, Charlie Scofield, Jake Hill, Lex Burton, Andrew Perron and Chase Henning. Lakeside benefited from several Folsom miscues in the field. What Lakeside did well was put the ball in play, as Lakeside hitters only struck out five times. "I'm impressed with their performance," Lakeside Manager Darrin Gutierrez said. "They had a lot of positive energy and they were focused and ready to play. We hit the ball pretty well. I feel we've got 14 players and they're all pretty confident at the plate. I hope I don't jinx us, but one thing we don't do is strikeout much. We tell them to put the ball in play, run hard and put pressure on the defense and good things are going to happen." Lakeside did just that and ended up with several infield hits and took the extra bases when Folsom threw the ball around. Folsom National scored two runs in the second inning on bases loaded walks by Bo Leighton and Landon Norris. They only had two hits in the game; singles by Jakin Bustamante and Jaxson Murray. Norris and Murray handled the pitching for Folsom National, while Otvos, TJ Lillis, Paul Jones and Hill threw for Lakeside. Despite the loss, Folsom National Manager Julie Bedell was proud of her team. "The boys played their best and had a good time," Bedell said. "We will make corrections for our next game. I was proud of their upbeat attitude. We told them to have fun and play their best and they did a good job internalizing that." Lakeside will play Roseville at 5:30 p.m. Monday, while Folsom National will face Maidu at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.