Loomis Pirates continue their hot streak

Fresh off a tournament championship win Memorial Day weekend in Sacramento, the Loomis Pirates, a 12-year-old competitive Pony League baseball team made up of players from the Loomis Basin area, continued their fine season by posting a strong second place effort in a tourney held last weekend in Redding.Playing at the "Field of Dreams" complex, which duplicates several major league stadiums in a mini-form, the Loomis squad posted four straight wins before falling in the finals to a strong Yuba Flood team.According to Pirates coach Dale Sloss, the Pirates combined strong pitching, clutch hitting and key defense to gain the finals before the Flood, the third-ranked 12-year-old team in Northern California, snapped the Pirates' nine game win streak.All total, teams from Redding, Concord, Sacramento, Yuba City and Redmond, Ore., made up the Redding field. In last weekend's event, the Pirates opened pool play with a 10-7 win over the Redding Vipers. Zach Labar provided the Pirates with a big bat as he had a home run among a three-hit game while Dustin Richards picked up the mound win.Game two action on Saturday saw the Pirates handcuff the Redding Blue Lightning 9-1 as winning hurler Adam Pettigrew was backed up by two hit games from Skyler Rand, Steven O'Neil and Drew Harris. In quarter-final action, the Pirates were matched against the Vipers again and breezed to a 13-1 win as hurler Ric Haynes allowed just one hit and fanned seven in the game cut to four innings.The Pirates kept up their strong efforts in the semi-finals as Rand fired a three-hit shutout and fanned six as the Loomis club blanked the Arden Bandits from Sacramento, 5-0.O'Neil had three hits in the game while A.J. Newby added a double and triple. Both O'Neil and Pettigrew also hit safely twice. O'Neil led the hitting department for the Pirates as he went 10x11 in the tournament and during one stretch collected eight consecutive base raps. Pettigrew also stood out by banging out seven hits which included a pair of triples. He also drove in six runs. The Pirates next tournament will be June 23-24 in Carson City.