La Verne: Meet Your New District 20 11-Year-Old All-Star Champions

La Verne Little League 11-Year-Old All Star District 20 Champions

Amassing 14 hits, nine of which came off the bats of Nick Lodolo, Brogan White and Cole Sojka who had three hits apiece, the La Verne Little League 11-year-old all-stars simply had to too much offensive firepower, defeating San Dimas, 13-5, to claim the District 20 championship at Merchant Park, Thursday, July 9.

After San Dimas scored one run in the top of the first, La Verne went right to work scoring two in the bottom half of the opening inning. Leading off, Lodolo singled, but was erased on a force play at second when Alex Gonzalez grounded to second. With two out, White singled to drive in Gonzalez, then Sojka doubled home White to give La Verne an early 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the second, La Verne sent eight hitters to the plate to score four more runs. Collecting hits to spark the rally were Hunter Korn, Lodolo and White. San Dimas also committed two errors to prolong the inning. San Dimas pitcher Matt Corona, who had defeated La Verne earlier in the tournament, pitched well but didn’t get the same defensive effort he had in the previous match-up.

For the only time in the game, La Verne went down in order in the third inning.

Playing of the National Anthem

In the top of the fourth, San Dimas showed its championship-caliber play by stringing together four straight singles after Lodolo loaded the bases with three walks. In perhaps the biggest decision of the game, Manager Brian Shively took the ball from his ace lefthander and called White in from his third base position to take the mound. White promptly induced San Dimas’ dangerous clean-up hitter Cody Hanes to slap a comebacker, which he fielded and threw to first to end any further damage.

Going into the bottom of the fourth, La Verne led the contest 6-5. In effect, it was a whole new ballgame.

“This is San Dimas,” Shively said. “They’re defending champions. Sure, you get nervous. Of course, you’re worried about your team coming out on top. But our guys were playing. They were here to play.”

Lodolo warming up

Instead of cracking under the pressure, La Verne came through with its biggest rally of the tournament, sending 12 batters to the plate. At one point, seven consecutive La Verne batters reached base. Fueling the rally were base knocks by Lodolo, Matt Jones, White, Kurtis Redman, Jacob Wollard, Gonzalez and a 3-run homer by Sojka.

In fact, the fourth showcased all of La Verne’s best assets – speed, patience at the plate, great bunting ability, raw power, and that great intangible that every team needs to keep playing all through July – teamwork.

"Man, that was close."

“It was a team effort all the way through,” Shively said. “If you watched the game, you saw me moving guys in and out, in and out. Guys in the dugout were saying, ‘No problem, coach, whatever it takes for the team.’ That’s the stuff we need. That stuff is going to win games for us.”

La Verne’s offensive display made the score 12-5, in effect, putting the game out of reach. Lodolo, who threw 88 pitches, got the win. Sojka and White drove in nine of the team’s 13 runs.

All those practices, all those late nights finishing homework, all those lost weekends when they could have been at the beach, all seem worth it now.

“There’s no question this team is loaded with hitting,” Shively. “We have the talent all the way through as a team to do what needs to be done. This is a confident team.

“I tip my hat to San Dimas. They’re a great team. They were hard-fought games. But, it’s good to bring home a flag to La Verne again.

“It’s not just that, though. It’s the parents, it’s the help we get. It goes right down from the parents to the kids.”

Great coaches, great parents, great kids — that’s an unbeatable combination in anybody’s scorebook!

La Verne will resume action in the Section 3 tournament in Azusa on July 18.

Now you're ready for your close-up. Meet the 2009 District 20 La Verne Little League 11-year-old All-Star champions.