EDH caps off Section 4 All-Star championship with 10-0 win

El Dorado Hills capped a magnificent weekend of baseball with a 10-0 win over Fair Oaks Orangevale on Monday at Land Park Little League to win the Section 4 10-11-year-old All-Star Tournament. The El Dorado Hills 10-11 All-Stars had a perfect tournament, winning all four games. On the way to winning the championship they defeated Tri-City 6-1, West Sacramento 11-1, Land Park 4-2 and Fair Oaks Orangevale 10-0. El Dorado Hills outscored their opponents 31-4. Said one of the team leaders, George Bergamo, "This team is really good and we're really talented. We listen to the coaches and we practice a lot." In Monday's championship game, El Dorado Hills pitcher JJ Filippini sent Fair Oaks Orangevale down in order in the top of the first inning before El Dorado Hills scored seven runs in the bottom of the inning to let their competition know which team was boss. Logan Reichard led off with a walk and Jake Tryer was hit by a pitch which set the table for Bergamo, who laced a double to left-center field to score Reichard. Filippini was hit by a pitch to load the bases before walks to Brady Gill and Matt Gabbard pushed two more runs across the plate. After an out, Colton Cagle and Wilson Center ripped two-run doubles that put El Dorado Hills in front, 7-0. The first batter for Fair Oaks Orangevale in the top of the second inning hit a hard ground ball to second base and where El Dorado Hills' second baseman Colton Cagle made a great stop to his right to snag the backhand and followed it with a strong throw to first base for the out. Fair Oaks managed a pair of two-out singles, but Filippini got out of the inning with a strikeout. El Dorado Hills managed three more runs in the bottom of the third inning, as CJ Ard had a two-run single and Bodhi Washburn followed with an RBI single. Filippini pitched the entire game, allowing three hits and striking out four. "JJ's pitching was outrageously good; some of the best he's done," Bergamo said. "Our offense was really good. We had lots of good hits." El Dorado Hills Manager Jason Reichard was happy with the win. "That's a good Fair Oaks Orangevale team," Reichard said. "They had to scrap to get themselves back in this game, and they'll always be good. They had a little trouble finding it in the first inning and we got traffic on the bases and never looked back. We've had trouble scoring after the first inning the past few games, but today we dusted ourselves off and scored runs when we needed to." Impressively, El Dorado Hills had big hits from four of the last five batters in their lineup: Cagle, Center, Ard and Washburn. "Those guys are always good," Reichard said. "I feel like up and down the lineup we can hit the ball. There's nobody in the lineup that if feel doesn't have a shot at getting a hit." Reichard was also pleased with Filippini's performance. "JJ hasn't pitched much in the this All-Star season, but today, to get a complete game with some 40 pitches, one walk and relatively little traffic on the bases, it's hard to complain. JJ does a good job of pounding the zone and he's good about keeping the ball down in the zone and that what it takes to win. "And now we're going to state. I couldn't be happier for the boys."