Susanville Majors win Championship All-Star game
The Susanville Little League Majors All-Star team claimed the title of champions after a hard fought win against Lake Almanor Saturday, June 30.
Susanville hosted the tournament at the local Pat Murphy Little League field between Wednesday, June 27 and June 30.
The undefeated local team took on Lake Almanor in the championship game and ended up with the 7-6 win.
Lake Almanor was certainly determined to give the game their all, but Susanville’s raw talent, continuous teamwork and focus on the diamond granted them the win.
The first inning ended with Lake Almanor in the lead 1-0, but their advantage didn’t last long.
In the second inning, Zayn Wright started things off with a strong hit that put him at third base.
Conner Wolcott then walked before stealing second base.
Next, Tucker Schall hit a strong triple to bring both Wright and Wolcott in, and with a single from Tyler Zahniser, Schall made it in as well.
Nash Osborne hit a single to send Zahniser to second. Then, both Zahniser and Osborne stole a base with Sutter Moss at bat. Moss was eventually hit by the pitch, and with the bases loaded, Matthew Battey stood at bat.
With a bunt, Battey reached first, Osborne came in, Zahniser reached third and Moss took second.
Jay McKernan followed with a single to bring Zahniser in and allow Moss to reach third and Battey to stand on second.
Then, Wright stood at bat and hit a strong sacrifice that allowed both Moss and Battey to book it home. Susanville took to the field with a strong lead of 7-1 on the board.
During the top of the third, Lake Almanor bumped their score up by another run with a stellar hit that took the ball out of the park.
However, despite how impressive the home run was, it wasn’t enough to take the lead.
During the bottom of the third, Schall and Reese Chappuis each hit a single before the inning’s end, but the score on the board didn’t change.
In the fourth inning, Lake Almanor had two walks, one single and a run, but again, the lead remained in Susanville hands.
A walk by Blake Tow put Susanville on base in the bottom of the fourth, but the inning was called soon afterward.
In the fifth inning, Seth Mallery hit a single and Tow swapped in to run. At the first chance he saw, Tow stole second and third base, eager to score a run.
Schall followed with a single, and then stole second with Zahniser at bat.
Unfortunately, two strikeouts and an out at first ended the inning before Susanville could up their run count.
The sixth inning saw quite the bout of action with Lake Almanor at bat.
One Lake Almanor batter hit a double, but attempted to reach third. As he sprinted toward the base, a Susanville outfielder threw the ball to the third baseman to ensure the Lake Almanor runner was out.
Unfortunately, the runner got perfectly in the way of the throw, so the ball hit his helmet and bounced out of the park. With the ball out of bounds, the runner ended up making it home and thus brought the opposing team’s run count to four.
The odd incident seemed to set the tone for the inning as Lake Almanor continued to score on Susanville, despite the home team’s best efforts.
Finally, Susanville reorganized their thoughts and their efforts to effectively get an out at home and an out at first to end the game with 7-6 on the board favoring the home team.
With the win, the Major All-Stars will be moving on to Sections. The first game of the Sections tournament will be held this Saturday, July 14, in Redding, California.
