Ryan Stonehouse had a great all-star series for La Verne, pitching and hitting.

Trailing 6-1 to Glendora National in the bottom of the fifth inning, the La Verne 12-Year-Old All Stars staged one last furious rally in the finals of the District 20 Little League championship at Marchant Park in San Dimas.

Leading off for La Verne, Luke Russell doubled against Glendora’s Andrew Beauvais. Ben Wolfe nursed a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs. A faint ripple of hope washed over the La Verne faithful rooting from the stands. Back to the top of the line-up, Tanner Siffert singled to drive in Russell, making the score 6-2. There were still no outs.

Up stepped Ryan Stonehouse, who had homered earlier in the game to give La Verne its lone run entering the bottom of the fifth. Behind early in the count, Stonehouse worked a walk to load the bases.

Glendora’s manager had seen enough and went to Jason Barnett to try to save the game for Glendora. Beauvais had pitched an outstanding game, but he was running on fumes, a dim prospect as he was preparing to face the teeth of the La Verne line-up.

Following instructions from the bench, Barnett wisely elected to pitch around JoeDefina, walking him on four pitches to force in Wolfe to make the score 6-3. There were still no outs. Suddenly, home run-happy La Verne was a swing and a grand slam away from taking the lead.

Although surrounded by La Verne runners, occupying every base, Barnett was able to strike out Matt Kurnik, who had singled and hit the ball sharply in his two previous plate appearances. Glendora finally got its first out and could exhale for the first time in the inning.

That relief didn’t last long, however, because Johnny Martinez greeted Barnett with a hard single into center field, with all the runners advancing 60 feet, making the score 6-4. Now just a single would most likely tie the game for La Verne as its fans ratcheted up the noise and prepared to watch their boys of summer stage their biggest comeback of the post-season.

But Barnett had the ball in his hands and had a different outcome in mind. The right-hander struck out the next two batters to allow Glendora to cling to a 6-4 lead.

La Verne never got any closer, as Barnett shut down La Verne’s powerful line-up one more time in the bottom of the sixth.

It was a tough loss to take for the La Verne players and fans, but Glendora National deserved all the credit for making some key adjustments to turn the tables on the powerful team that had whipped 13-0 just 48 hours earlier. Glendora’s gutty win reminding everyone that no team is ever out of it once play begins between the white lines.

You won’t, however, be hearing the last of the 2012 La Verne All-Star team. It featured many fine players who will be playing locally for a long time. Once again, these players deserve a tip of the cap:

JOE DEFINA, RANDY FERTIG, RYAN FINCHER, MATHEW KURNIK,
NICHOLAS LITWIN, JOHNNY MARTINEZ, GRIFFIN MULVEY,
LUKE RUSSELL, JARED SERRANO, TANNER SIFFERT,
RYAN STONEHOUSE, BEN WOLFE

MICKY’S JEWELRY STUDIO IN LA VERNE IS HOSTING A SPECTACULAR 4TH OF JULY RED WHITE AND BLUE SUMMER SALE THIS THURSDAY, FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. MICKY’S IS LOCATED AT 2210 FOOTHILL BLVD. FOR MORE INFO, PLEASE CALL 909.593-0748.

+

Before or after the game, head over to Cost + Mattress in La Verne for great 4th of July specials.  Up to 20% savings on their already low prices! And don’t miss their open house, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on July 12!