MOORPARK CLOSES IN ON TITLE.Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Daily News Staff Writer The Moorpark Major Division Little League 12-year old All-Stars are one game away from winning the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, regional championship. Moorpark will play La Puente La Puente (lä pwĕn`tē), city (1990 pop. 36,955), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles; laid out 1841, inc. 1956. Primarily residential, the city manufactures hardware, electronics, and paper products. on Saturday in La Mirada La Mirada (lä mĭrä`də), city (1990 pop. 40,452), Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1960. La Mirada derives from the Spanish for "the view," referring to the panoramic view of the surrounding valleys from atop the city's hills. for the title. A win means a trip to San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. for the Western State Regionals and, if they're lucky, it'll be on to Williamsport, Penn. For Moorpark, the quest began three weeks ago during the District 13 Tournament, where the team beat Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. and longtime nemesis Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. . Beating Thousand Oaks was key. The two teams have battled one another for a couple of years now and Thousand Oaks always seemed to have the advantage. This year, though, Moorpark was able to beat its neighboring rival twice before defeating Northside of Oxnard to take first place. ``Those were big wins,'' said Moorpark coach Hector Garcia. In winning the District 13 championship, Moorpark moved on to the sectional tournament in Woodland Hills two weeks ago. Once again, big wins paved the way for a first-place finish. Along the way, Moorpark beat teams from Bakersfield and Paso Robles Robles is a common surname in the Spanish language meaning oaks, and may refer to:
In the Southern California Tournament, Moorpark beat Mission Viejo on Monday and La Puente on Tuesday to reach the championship game. Moorpark will face La Puente one more time in the double-elimination format Saturday. In Tuesday's game, Moorpark turned four hits into a 4-3 win. ``We just took what they gave us and got the job done,'' Garcia said. The key to Moorpark's 11-1 record is four outstanding pitchers: Erik Johnson, Justin Pizzola, Aaron Garcia and Robby Jaegge. The ace of the staff is Johnson, a hard thrower who also has some pop in his bat. ``When he's not pitching he's a great center fielder,'' said coach Garcia. ``He can cover a lot of ground.'' Pizzola, who also is a force offensively, is a control pitcher. ``He mixes his pitches up real well and has a nice change-up,'' the coach said. Besides pitching, Moorpark is blessed with a number of versatile players. Matt Davenport had a game-tying RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in double against La Puente in the fifth inning Tuesday and then scored the winning run in the sixth inning on a wild pitch. Michael Lopez is the clean-up hitter, despite being one of the smallest players on the team. Defensively, he started a rare triple play in the fourth inning against Mission Viejo on Monday to help preserve a 9-3 win. Another defensive standout has been catcher Keith Pabers. ``We call him the rock because he hasn't missed an inning behind the plate yet,'' Hector Garcia said. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: The Moorpark Little League All-Stars will battle LaPuente for the regional championship Saturday. Michael Owen Baker/Daily News |
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