Folsom American wins third straight to reach championship round

After losing the opening game of the Section 4 9-10-year-old All-Star Tournament on Thursday, Folsom American has pulled up their bootstraps, went to work and won three games in a row to reach the championship round of the tournament being played in Rancho Cordova. Folsom American started Saturday morning with a 5-2 win over Lincoln and then on Sunday ripped West Sacramento, 16-3, avenging the loss to West Sac on Thursday in the opening game of the tournament. On Monday, they made it three-for-three with a decisive 12-6 win over Fair Oaks Orangevale. Now they find themselves with a chance to win the tournament if they can find a way to beat Land Park two games in a row. "I told the kids that they're in the championship game for the sections and that's basically the entire Sacramento County and then some so that's a big deal," Folsom American Manager Brandon MacLeod said. "Unfortunately, we have to win two games in a row so we're still taking it one game at a time." In the win over Lincoln, Folsom American scored single runs in the second and third innings before putting three runs on the scoreboard in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead. They went on to win 5-2. Four pitchers, Hunter Smith, Caden Black, Everett Ziemann and Hayden Smith, combined to allow only two runs on four hits while striking out 13. Hayden Smith and Colton Henry had doubles; Reed MacLeod had two hits, while Black, MacLeod, Ziemann and Henry drove in runs. A fast start helped Folsom American in their 16-3 win over West Sacramento on Sunday, as they scored seven runs in the top of the first inning. They added three more runs in the second and the rout was on. The team pounded out 17 hits in the win, as all 11 players in the lineup had hits. Hunter Smith had three hits, scored three runs and drove in five. Ethan Gong Hunter Vickers, MacLeod and Henry had two hits, while Gong picked up three RBIs and Henry scored three runs. Gong and Hunter Smith had triples, while MacLeod, Curtis Hayes Jr., Beau Davis and Hayden Smith had doubles. Again, four pitchers carried the workload for Folsom American, as MacLeod, Ziemann, Vickers and Henry allowed three runs on three hits, while striking out five. "Our bats finally exploded on Sunday," MacLeod said. "I'm really proud of the kids. I'm happy how we rebounded in a revenge game. We were up 7-0 in the first inning and that set the tone." In Monday's 12-6 win over Fair Oaks Orangevale, Folsom American again used a big first inning, scoring five runs, to jump on top. They added a pair of runs in the second inning to increase their lead to 7-0. Even four runs scored by Fair Oaks Orangevale in the bottom of the inning still left them three runs behind. Folsom American collected 16 hits in the win, and for the second straight game, every player had a hit. Hayes Jr. had three hits and three RBIs, while Hayden Smith had two hits and three RBIs, MacLeod had two hits and knocked in two, while Black also had two hits and scored twice. Henry, Hunter Smith, MacLeod and Vickers also scored two runs each. The Smith brothers, along with Vickers and Black, allowed six runs on five hits and struck out eight. "I'm really proud of the way they came out hitting," MacLeod said. "We've been the away team two straight games and we've scored 12 runs in the top of the first inning. That's huge. Our pitching was good today and we had a couple of errors that we need to clean up." Now Folsom American has to dig deep again and try to find a way to beat Land Park, not once, but twice. "We're confident that we can put runs on the board, pitch well and play good defense," MacLeod said. "I feel like if we do that I'm pretty confident about our chances, but we have to take it one day at a time."