The Dos Pueblos Little League 12U All-Stars pulled out a 5-4 win over Carpinteria Valley LL in extra innings in the District 63 semifinal on Tuesday at Goleta Valley South LL.
With the game knotted at 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth, Max Nelson served as the automatic ghost runner on second base. Santiago Grande then stepped to the plate and rocketed the first pitch into center field to score Nelson and give his team the win.
Dos Pueblos LL will now face off against Goleta Valley South LL in the District 63 championship on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at GVSLL. Dos Pueblos will need to beat Goleta Valley South twice to capture the title.
Earlier in Tuesday’s semifinal game, Dos Pueblos LL opened the scoring in the first inning thanks to an RBI triple by Conant and an RBI single off the bat of Grande.
Carpinteria Valley LL tied the game up at 2-2 in the top of the second, and that score held through six innings to force extras.
Nick Brakka handled the bulk of the pitching for Dos Pueblos LL, allowing two runs while striking out eight in six innings of work.
Carpinteria Valley LL broke the tie with two runs in the top of the seventh, but Dos Pueblos LL quickly responded with two of its own on an RBI double by Hudson Campbell and an RBI groundout by Conant.
Kaz Gonzalez then tossed a scoreless top of the eighth to set the stage for Grande’s walk-off.
The DPLL 12U All-Stars are Cyrus Brunner, David Ramirez, Henry Wood, Hudson Campbell, Julian Flores, Kaz Gonzalez, Matteo Conant, Mauricio Galicia, Max Nelson, Nick Brakka, Santiago Grande, Sebastian Gutierrez, and Tyler Newendorp.
The team is managed by Kenny Newendorp, with assistant coaches Bryan Conant and Mario Galicia.