Lakeside Green pulls out 9-8 win in extras to claim Jr. TOC title

Lakeside Green won the District 54 Junior TOC Thursday with a 9-8 win extra-inning win over the Woodcreek Padres. Already beating the Cosumnes Cubs, 4-3, in the previous game playing without three of their better hitters, Curtis Otvos, Charlie Anderson and Braydon Malkinson, the Green would have to find a way to beat the talented Padres. "I told the team before the game it was going to be a battle," Lakeside manager Mike Burton said. "They all had "hero" moments individually and sporadically spread across the regular season, but to win a championship they would each need to have those moments again, all together on this day. I told them to play for the guy behind you and to give them a chance and no matter what happened in that game to never get too high or too low and always believe you can win. That's the true definition of team. "They did just that. Every player contributed with a hit in the game and played amazing defense and, most importantly, they supported each other and never gave up." Lakeside jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning with Colin Van Gils, Elijah Shopek and Edin Zunic all contributing big hits. Tyson Turo pitched the first three innings and only gave up one hit and two runs. Woodcreek battled back and tied the game in the fourth inning and eventually went up 7-5 in the top of the seventh inning. With their backs to the wall in the bottom of the seventh, Lakeside battled back and trailing 7-6 with two outs and the tying run on third base, and up to the plate was Caelan Rowe. Burton called Rowe the team's quietest and most loved player on the team, but Rowe had zero hits in five at bats during the tournament. Rowe fell behind the count 0-2 and then battled back for a 3-2 count before he connected on a fastball and hit a hard ground ball to Woodcreek's shortstop, who made a great play just to get to the ball. Rowe hustled and beat out the play to first base, scoring the tying runner from third base and sending the game to extra innings. Woodcreek scored a run to take an 8-7 lead, as Lakeside would have to score two to win it. With a runner starting on second base, Lakeside leadoff hitter Lex Burton drew a walk and Aaron Toft singled to score Dylan Gutierrez from third to tie the game. Woodcreek intentionally walked Colin Van Gils to load the bases with no outs. Jackson Long then singled to score Burton to secure the championship with a 9-8 win. "The best part about the game was we were down to our last strike and Caelan Rowe, the least likely player on the team came in clutch to keep it alive," Burton said. "That fired up the team like no other. "I couldn't be more proud of what this team accomplished going 12-1-2 in the regular season and ultimately 3-0 in TOC's to secure their position as Champions in District 54." Lakeside opened the tournament with an 11-3 win over the Folsom Red Sox. Burton came in for relief in the top of the second inning down 3-2 and pitched five scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and striking out seven batters. Otvos, Gutierrez and Toft combined for eight of Lakeside's 12 hits. In the second game, Lakeside defeated the Cosumnes Cubs, 4-3. Gutierrez started the game on the mound and went five innings, giving up only two hits and striking out 11 batters. Zunic and Shopek had some key hits and RBI's to help secure the victory. Colin Van Gils closed the game on the mound. Andreas Poquette had a diving catch in right field with two outs and runners in scoring position to end the game. Some key stats throughout the tournament: Lex Burton - Pitched 10 total innings with 11 strikeouts and only four earned runs. Dylan Gutierrez - Five innings pitched with zero earned runs and 11 strikeouts. Tyson Turo – Three innings pitched, one hit, two earned runs, two strikeouts. Jackson Long – Walk-off hit. Caelan Rowe - Clutch player. Edin Zunic – Hit four-for-eight with three doubles. Aaron Toft, Colin Van Gils, Elijah Shopek all had high averages and big hits. Ivan Laughlin - Played a brilliant center field in championship game to keep game close.