Alameda Babe Ruth All-Star 13s Win Back-to-Back

By John Eichel

Alameda Babe Ruth 13-Year-Old All-Stars 

District 4 Tournament, Rickey Henderson Field, Oakland, July 2-7 

July 3: Alameda 12, Oakland 6 

Oakland—For the second-straight day, Alameda’s 13-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars came from behind to win in the Babe Ruth District Four 13-year-old all-star tournament at Rickey Henderson Field in Oakland. This time, on Sunday, July 3, Alameda spotted Oakland to a five-run first-inning lead before tying the game in the fourth and pulling away with a six-run outburst in the fifth. 

Staying strong and persevering were keys to Alameda’s comeback win. This was best personified by starting pitcher Dominic Taylor, who —after giving up five runs in the first inning on four hits, two walks, and his own error — settled down and pitched five solid innings to get the win, allowing just one more run (unearned) and two more hits. 

Taylor took defensive matters into his own hands with four assisted outs on ground balls hit back to him and two strikeouts. In addition, he shouldered his share offensively, going two for three (with a walk) at the plate with three RBIs, including a clutch two-out, two-run single during Alameda’s six-run fifth inning. 

The rest of the Alameda team also picked up their pitcher during and after his first-inning struggles. Shortstop Alex Vick started a 6-4-3 double play in the first inning to stem the damage. Then his teammates rallied in the bottom of the first two innings to significantly reduce Oakland’s early advantage. 

In Alameda’s three-run first-inning rebound, Kenyon Ebert led off with a walk, then stole second, his third steal of the tournament. Vincent Morten then cue-balled an RBI double down the right-field line, his first of three hits. Robby Jackson followed with an RBI single, taking second on the throw home. Jackson promptly stole third, then scored on a wild pitch to leave Alameda down by just two runs. 

Alameda threatened again in the second inning, starting with a Steve Manzo single, eventually loading the bases and forcing home another run on a run-scoring walk by Jackson (the second of his eventual four RBIs) to bring the score to 5-4. 

Alameda also threatened in the third inning, when Michael Woodworth singled and stole second with two outs, but he was left stranded. The game-tying rally wouldn’t occur until the fourth inning, and the game winner wouldn’t be plated until the fifth. 

After Oakland added its final run (unearned) at the top of the fourth inning, Alameda came back with two in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. The big hit was an RBI double by Jackson, a shot that dented the yellow plastic border running along the top of the high right-field fence. 

Jackson’s was the longest hit of the day, but the longest rally came in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Alameda sent 10 batters to the plate and six of them scored. Patrick Yajko started it with his fifth walk of the tournament, Alameda loaded the bases, then, in successive at-bats, Ebert and Morten hit RBI singles, Jackson hit a sacrifice fly, then Taylor ripped his two-run run single to centerfield to finish the turnaround and help send the Alamedans home happy. 

Alameda Babe Ruth 13-Year-Old All-Stars 

District 4 Tournament, Rickey Henderson Field, Oakland, July 2-7 

July 2: Alameda 8, Washington Manor (San Leandro) 5 

Oakland—Alameda’s 13-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars erupted for a total of eight runs in the third through fifth innings, and shut down a dangerous Washington Manor (San Leandro) team over the final four innings for a comeback 8-5 victory in the first game of the Babe Ruth District Four 13-year-old all-star tournament at Rickey Henderson Field in Oakland on Saturday, July 2. 

Down 1-0 after two innings on an unearned run against starting pitcher Vincent Republicano, Alameda jumped to a 2-1 lead in the top of the third inning on back-to-back two-out RBI singles by  Daniel Ratto and Robby Jackson, finishing a rally started by the first of Patrick Yajko’s three walks for the game. 

Washington Manor fought back, jumping to a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the third, on two hits, (including a two-run double by their leadoff hitter), four walks, and a sacrifice fly. But Alameda came back with six runs in the next two innings to regain the lead. 

The key hits in Alameda’s three-run, fourth-inning, game-tying rally included an RBI single by Republicano, and a two-run, two-out single by Ratto, who had three RBIs for the day. 

After a shutdown, scoreless bottom of the fourth, featuring three strikeouts by pitcher Alex Vick, Alameda surged ahead to stay in the top of the fifth inning. Highlights of this final three-run rally included a one-out, two-strike single by Mitchell Nakahara, a double by Kenyon Ebert, a two-run triple by Dominic Taylor, and an RBI single by Yajko. 

After that, pitching and defense dominated the game. Vick pitched four and one-third scoreless innings in relief for the win, allowing just two hits and one walk, and posting six strikeouts. Jackson, who caught the entire game, backed up Vick in the bottom of the fifth inning with a fine catch on a high pop foul near the screen behind home plate. And Alameda’s outfield performed well, with centerfielder Vincent Morten and leftfielder Yajko capably handling several fly balls in their direction. 

 Alameda Babe Ruth provided this article.