Late offense leads MALL 12s to win
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera American’s Jasir Alvarez connects on a two-run first inning home run during a 19-5 victory over Sunnyside on Saturday in Selma.
SELMA — The Madera American 11-12-year-old All-star baseball team scored 13 runs in the final three innings to cruise to a 19-5 victory over Sunnyside-Lone Star Little League in the first round of the District 10 tournament.
Madera American had a chance to put the 10-run rule on Sunnyside after taking a 10-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth, but Sunnyside scored a run in the bottom of the inning Saturday.
Madera American then scored nine runs in the top of the sixth and eased into the quarterfinals with a 19-5 victory.
Madera American played Madera National on Monday. The winner advances to the semifinals Thursday and the loser plays Wednesday.
Jasir Alvarez and Adam Arias paced the Madera American offense with four hits each. Both hit home runs and combined for seven RBIs and four runs. Jordan Hernandez also drove in four runs.
Bryan Malagon picked up the win, tossing 2 1/3 innings while striking out four. Manager Mike Molina used four more pitchers before Adam Arias allowed four unearned runs in the sixth to close out the victory.
Madera American jumped out to the early 5-0 victory in the top of the first inning. Matthew Del Toro led off the inning with a single, but Sunnyside got the next two batters out.
Arias kept the rally going with a single up the middle to put runners at first and second. Both runners advanced with a stolen base.
Hernandez singled up the middle to drive in Del Toro and Arias for the first two runs of the game.
Alvarez followed with a two-run home run over the centerfield fence. Jair Alvarez and Aiden Sua drew walks. Robby Reynoso singled to left to drive in Alvarez for a 5-0 lead.
Madera American added a run in the third after a lead-off double from Elijah Tang. He scored on Jacob Rodriguez’s ground-rule double for a 6-0 lead.
With two outs in the fourth, Benji Molina singled up the middle and Adam Arias hit a no-doubt-about-it home run over center to increase the lead to eight.
Jasir Alvarez led off the fifth with a single. After a groundout, Rafael Velasco drew a walk. Pinch-runner Reynoso scored on a wild pitch and Velasco also scored on a wild pitch for a 10-0 lead.
Sunnyside opened the fifth with two walks. An error and another walk allowed Sunnyside to score a run to hold off the mercy rule. Jair Alvarez struck out three batters in a row to get out of the fifth. Madera American broke the game open in the sixth, sending 15 batters to the plate and scoring nine runs.
Arias and Hernandez hit run scoring doubles, Jair Alvarez drove in a run on a fielder’s choice. Del Toro, Malagon, Molina and Arias each hit run scoring singles. Hernandez drove in a run with a fielder’s choice and Jasir Alvarez drove in another run with a single for a 19-1 lead.
Arias got a groundout to open the sixth, but allowed a walk and a single before getting a lineout to center for the second out. An error loaded the bases. A single and another error drove in four Sunnyside runs before Arias got a grounder back to him to end the game.
