EDH holds on for 4-3 win over Woodcreek; advances to title game

The El Dorado Hills 10-11-year-old All-Stars scored four runs in the first inning Thursday and held on for dear life in the sixth, as they came away with a 4-3 victory over Woodcreek in the semifinal round of the District 54 All-Star Tournament at Mahany Park. There are only two teams remaining in the tournament and they play at 6 p.m. Saturday in the first of what could be two championship games. El Dorado Hills needs to beat Maidu Saturday to force a second game on Monday. If Maidu wins Saturday, they will be the District 54 All-Star champions. El Dorado Hills must beat them twice. El Dorado Hills scored four runs on six hits in the top of the first inning Thursday and then only had three hits the rest of the game off Joey Schwartz, who settled down and pitched a great game after the first inning. Darin Poquiz and Chase Rodenspiel had singles to lead off the game; Poquiz hit a ball that Woodcreek second baseman Luke McMahon dove for, but the ball popped out of his glove, allowing Poquiz to make it safely to first base. Kolten Irwin lined out to McMahon for the first out, but McMahon couldn't field Adam Brockmyer's grounder that loaded the bases. Max Saia followed with a single off Schwartz and back-to-back base hits from Jackson Cutler and Abraham Clark made it 3-0. Collin Ferguson then singled off Schwartz again to score the final run of the inning and the game for El Dorado Hills. Woodcreek also roughed up El Dorado Hills' starter Kolten Irwin for two runs in the bottom of the first. A walk by Irwin and two errors by Ferguson and Rodenspiel loaded the bases before singles by David Rubio and Michael Musgrove each scored a run. "I was happy with our four runs, but not so happy with their two," EDH Manager Jon Rodenspiel said. "We have some good hitters, so I always like our chances to score in the first inning, and it always nice to do so and get some momentum." Heading into the bottom of the sixth, EDH still maintained a 4-2 lead, but Poquiz had replaced Irwin with two outs in the fifth inning. Poquiz recorded the first two outs of the inning, but Woodcreek rallied with three straight singles and a run to cut the lead to 4-3. A walk by Colt Zobel loaded the bases for Chase Gonthier. Poquiz induced a ground ball to second, which Ferguson fielded cleanly and threw to Irwin for the game's final out. "We needed a close game, so I'm glad we had that and that it ended the way it did," Rodenspiel said. "Hopefully, that will help us. Kolten threw well, even though he didn't have his best stuff. He battled. Now we've got to beat Maidu twice."