A five-run first inning and solid pitching from Owen Carleton led the Goleta Valley South Little League Junior Division All Stars to an 11-5 victory over El Centro Little League in an elimination game at Southern California State Tournament in Corona on Friday night.
Carleton pitched 5.1 innings for the victory. He allowed four runs (two earned0 on four hits, walked three and struck out four. William Wrenn closed out the game.
“Owen threw an amazing game tonight for us,” said manager Rob Brennan. “He kept the batters off balance against a very good hitting team. I could not be more proud of Owen for his dominating performance.”
GVSLL bats stayed hot, accumulating 13 hits in the game. “Gunner” Martinez went 3 for 4 at the plate to lead the attack. Cruz Lorca, Diego Alvarez and Jake Brennan each collected multiple hits for GVSLL.
“Christian Martinez had some huge hits for us and drove in a bunch of runs. Our speed on the bath paths gave El Centro some trouble. We stole some bases, but it was the aggressive base running and taking extra bases and beating out some throws that put a lot of pressure on them. We played a complete game tonight to get the win.” said Brennan.
GVSLL plays Saturday in Norco.
GVSLL members include: Jake Brennan, Diego Alvarez, Cruz Lorca, William Wrenn, Chris Youngdahl, Christian Martinez, Owen Carleton, Titus Fernandez, Kevan Vatan, Josh Lopez, Wyatt Mitchell, Gavin Miller and Kieran Ramaker.
The team is managed by Rob Brennan and coached by Brian Fernandez, Dan Carleton, Ray Lopez, Billy Wrenn and Ed Martinez.