Folsom American eliminated from state tourney after second loss

The Little League All-Star ride that has taken Folsom American's Little League's 9-10-year-old All-Stars from Roseville to Rancho Cordova to Cutten has come to an end. Folsom American was eliminated from the tournament on Sunday following their second loss in as many games, as the team fell to Lemoore, 6-4. Folsom American had a 2-0 lead midway through the game, but allowed four runs in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth. At first, Lemoore hit the ball well with four hits and two walks and a passed ball in the fourth inning. Then Folsom American pitches couldn't find the strike zone, as the two runs they allowed in the fifth inning came from six bases on balls, steals and wild pitches/passed balls. In the first inning, Folsom American came out swinging hot bats as the first three batters, Caden Black, Colton Henry and Hunter Smith, all singled; Henry driving in Black for the first run. Reed MacLeod later knocked in Henry with a sacrifice fly. Folsom American scored two more runs in the bottom of the sixth, showing great fight, when Henry doubled in two runs to tighten the score to 6-4. Lemoore got the last out, however, and the game was over. Henry drove in three of Folsom American's four runs, while MacLeod had the other RBI. The first three batters in the lineup, Black, Henry and Hunter Smith, each had two hits. Curtis Hayes Jr. and Isaiah Trujillo had the others. Folsom American pitchers, however, gave up six runs on six hits and 10 walks, not to mention four wild pitches, some more passed balls and two hit batters. "On paper, it looks like we should have won," Folsom American Manager Brandon MacLeod said. "We out-hit them, 8-6, and we didn't strike out, but Lemoore played great defense. Every time we put the ball in play they made the outs. "Hunter Smith was on fire on the mound; unfortunately, our relief pitchers had trouble finding the zone. Walks and passed balls killed us. But we battled back and got the winning run up to the plate in the bottom of the sixth. The kids could have given up, but they fought until the end." It was a disappointing end to a great month of All-Star baseball. "Overall, I'm extremely proud of these kids and the absolute monster run they had," MacLeod said. "Some tears were shed after the game, but I told the boys to keep their heads up. They have nothing to be ashamed of, and they should be proud of what they accomplished." Game one Folsom American showed up at the state tournament to play Castro Valley on Saturday in Cutten, but the team wasn't ready to score any runs. Folsom American only managed three hits in the game and lost, 1-0. The game's only run came in the second inning when Castro Valley hit a one-out single and later hit a two-out double to score. Folsom American had a runner on second base in four of the six innings, but never got the big hit they needed. In the second inning, Folsom American had runners on second and third with two outs before flying out, and in the third inning they had a runner reached second with two outs and didn't score after a strikeout. Again in the fourth inning, Folsom had two runners on base with no outs and then three batters struck out in a row to end the inning. Finally, in the sixth inning they had a runner on second with two outs and struck out. Folsom American went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Caden Black, Hunter Vickers and Beau Davis had hits for Folsom American. The highlight was their pitching, as Reed MacLeod threw the first 4.1 innings and allowed one run on four hits and two strikeouts. Black threw the last 1.2 innings and no hits and struck out one. "It was a tough one," MacLeod said. "One different play and the outcome could have been different. Bottom of the fifth with runners on second and third and no outs killed us. Couldn't get a single run. They were a great team that had outstanding pitching."