La Verne 9-Year-Olds Have a Blast Winning Little League District Championship

La Verne’s amazing 9-year-old Little League All-Stars won the district title in convincing fashion, defeating Glendora American 12-2 at Pelota Park on Saturday.

Proud parents and relatives cheered the boys’ victory with no less applause than the 750,000 spaceniks on the other side of the country who the day before had watched the Space Shuttle Atlantis blast off from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

In the playoffs, the boys were on their own special mission, and Saturday was no exception.

In the top of the first, Cody Moderow led off with a single and came around and scored on a double by Sean Powell. Powell later scored on a single by Tyson Heaton to stake La Verne to an early 2-0 lead. In the second, La Verne added two more runs, the big hit coming on a one-out double by Stephen Bustos.

La Verne added a single run in the top of the third before Glendora responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to trail, 5-2.

After scoring two more runs in the fourth – Kenny Coulson and Moderow singled and Chase Siffert doubled, La Verne saved its best for last, scoring the maximum five runs (under Little League rules) in the top of the fifth on five straight hits. Heaton and Trevor Canton started the inning with back-to-back doubles, Luke Peifer followed with a one-run single, Josh Obergon doubled in another run and Steven Vasquez tripled to close out the scoring.

It turns out the only thing that could stop the La Verne 9s was the schedule itself. Unlike the other Little League divisions, the 9s play just the one tournament.

Look for them in future seasons to excel at an even a higher level. For now, just enjoy the few video clips of the celebration under REEL People video section.