It's been a banner year for La Verne's 11-year-old all-stars.
Led by the arm and bat of Nick Peifer, the La Verne Little League 11-year-old all-stars squeezed out an 8-6 victory over Orange to win the Sub-Division III north tournament on Wednesday night, propelling the team into the state championships against the Sub-Division III south winner this Saturday at 5 p.m. at Homer F. Briggs Memorial Park in Ontario.
The win has capped an amazing post-season run for the 11-year-old all-stars from La Verne, who have swept the district, section and now sub-divisional Little League tournaments to land a berth in the state finals.
Everyone in the park knew that in meeting Orange a second time in the tournament, La Verne would face a much stiffer challenge than its initial 10-1 win over Orange two nights earlier. For one, La Verne ace AJ Woodall wouldn’t be on the hill, and two, Orange, having already faced La Verne, was sure to make some key adjustments.
Orange, however, had no answer for Peifer, who in his usual lead-off role, led off the game with a single, slapping a curve ball into right field. But then Orange’s Shane Darsow slammed the door, getting the next three batters in order to escape the inning unscathed.
In the bottom of the first, Peifer worked around an error and a walk, stranding two Orange runners and showing his trademark resolve of buckling down with runners aboard.
In the second inning, Darsow, who was so masterful in the first, battled his control, walking four batters and hitting another, which led to La Verne scoring three runs. Despite his bout of wildness, Darsow almost squeaked out of the inning, were it not for a two-out bases loaded single by Peifer, giving La Verne a 1-0 lead. Darsow then walked Nate Schneider and Anthony Cascarano to force in two more runs to put La Verne up, 3-0.
In the bottom half of the inning, Peifer worked around another error and a two-out single, once again frustrating Orange.
In the third, La Verne’s Nick Johnson hit a booming one-out double and came around to score on a double by Chris Spencer to tack on a fourth run.
Orange finally broke through with two runs in the bottom of the third on RBI singles from Michael Long and Brandon Ducheny. With half the game in the books, La Verne led 4-2.
That score didn’t last long, however. In the top of the fourth, La Verne scored four more runs, and once again it was Peifer who got things started with a bloop single to center for his third consecutive hit. Then Schneider fisted a ball up the first base line to leg-out an infield hit.
Nick Johnson was working hard to get La Verne the precious last outs his team needed.
With Peifer at third and Schneider at first, things really started to get crazy. With Anthony Cascarano at the plate, Darsow delivered a pitch that momentarily squirted away from Orange catcher Esperanza. Peifer, seeing just enough daylight, bolted for home. Esperanza pounced on the ball and fired to Darsow who couldn’t hold the hot throw. Peifer’s daring dash put La Verne up, 5-2, with Schneider standing at third.
More chaos followed. After Cascarano grounded back to the pitcher for the first out, Orange intentionally walked AJ Woodall to put runners on the corners. Graydon Smith also nursed a walk to load the bases.
With the score a still manageable 5-2, Orange elected to bring in reliever Gavin Folsom, and the strategy almost worked. Johnson grounded to short, but William Meissner charging in from his shortstop position threw wildly across his body to home, allowing Schneider and Woodall to score. With two outs, Luke Grapentin singled in Smith for La Verne’s fourth run of the inning.
La Verne now owned a comfortable 8-2 lead.
But Orange started carving into that lead, a slice at a time. In the bottom of the fourth, Meissner hit a one-out homer to trim the La Verne’s lead to 8-3. After La Verne went quietly in the top of the fifth, Orange cut the lead to 8-4 on two-out RBI single by Esperanza.
La Verne was blanked again in the top of the sixth, but needing only three outs to claim the championship, and with solid reliever Nick Johnson on the mound holding an 8-4 lead, La Verne wasn’t about to trade its position.
Meissner led off with a solid single to stir the Orange partisans. Next, Connor Chase hit a sharp grounder to second, but there was Peifer, now playing second, staying with it and getting Case at first for the first out. Up stepped Darsow, hitting out of the three hole. He hit a shot to center that, had the ball had a little more trajectory, would have left the ballpark in a New York minute, but the sure-handed Jake San Miguel snared the liner for the second out.
Fans on both sides stood up, La Verne hoping for one more out, Orange hoping the game and its season would continue. Michael Long strode to the plate, a perfect two-for-two on the night with a walk to his credit. Sensing the moment, the big first baseman crushed a two-run homer to cut La Verne’s margin to 8-6.
Unnerved, Johnson struck out Folsom to give La Verne that precious third out and, more important, an opportunity to play in the state championship on Saturday. It had withstood Orange’s best shot.
“What can you say about our kids,” said Manager Kevin Smith. “They’re the breakthrough kids. They really came through.”
Smith, who had to serve a two game suspension for not properly substituting, was much relieved that his players continued to play well no matter who was managing.
“I felt a little funky,” Smith admitted. “I didn’t want to screw anything up.”
At this point in the summer, La Verne’s 11-year-old all-stars can do wrong – at least when they’re on the baseball field.
La Verne dog pile. Football season must be around the corner.