13u Team Wins District Championship
The Palo Alto Little League (PALL) 13u All-Stars capped a remarkable five-game run through the elimination bracket to win the District 52 championship with an 11-1 victory over San Carlos under a full moon on Friday, June 21.
In the first game of the tournament on June 15, PALL looked to be cruising to victory, leading San Carlos 6-3 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. But San Carlos tied the game with a three-run rally in the seventh and then won with a walk-off run in the bottom of the eighth.
PALL Manager Felix Lo told the team not to be discouraged and challenged them to battle through the elimination bracket and to look for a rematch with San Carlos. They did just that by winning five elimination games in five days, culminating with the impressive 11-1 win over the team that had seemingly crushed their hopes in the tournament’s first game.
The resilient Palo Alto team featured outstanding pitching by timely hitting through their five-game winning streak. It was prominently displayed in the championship game against San Carlos. Angel Ochoa Burgos pitched four innings of two-hit ball, and Nate Signorello-Katz finished with two perfect innings in relief in the game that was stopped in the sixth inning by the ten-run rule. The PALL offense also exploded with eleven hits, including multiple-hit games from Paxton Liu and Toby Johnson; Emmit Gruin also pounded a triple for the winners.