Little League: Tiburon earns pennant, but title quest not over yet
The boys from Tiburon took a moment Sunday to savor a major victory as the sun set on Larkspur’s Joe Wagner Field.
“We’re going to celebrate tonight and enjoy this moment,” manager Kevin Kissling said after the Tiburon Peninsula Little League 12-year old All-Stars defeated West Marin, 5-0, for the California District 3 pennant.
The Tiburon players delighted in their win with the championship banner, then laughed with joy as they saw their mascot shark emerge from the dugout to join them.
“This is a moment they’ll never forget,” Kissling said. “I mean, this is the penultimate year for these kids. These kids lived up to the expectations. They played to win because they are so passionate about the game.”
The Tiburon team will get back to work quickly to prepare for the Section 1 tournament, which opens Friday at Vacaville’s Centennial Park. Tiburon Peninsula is scheduled to open the tournament against the champions from Napa County.
“This is a great group of baseball players,” Kissling said. “They came in with a focus; they came in with a drive to win. They played their hearts out and they got it.”
Tiburon Peninsula took the lead in the top of the first inning after Bennett Adelman’s bloop single loaded the bases. Two batters later, Zander Ting sacrificed his body to a pitch, forcing in Grayson Singer for the run. Already, the sharks were circling.
West Marin starter Mikey Basso kept Tiburon Peninsula’s hitters at bay the next two innings, but history repeated itself in the fourth inning. After errant pitches hit the first two batters, Adelman singled to load the bases. This time, Adam Saouaf scored as he stole home plate on a passed ball for a 2-0 Tiburon lead.
Basso held Tiburon to just three hits in 4.2 innings of work and struck out eight batters, but it wasn’t enough as West Marin managed just two hits for the entire game.
“Mikey Basso was maybe the best player out there,” West Marin manager Clay Thongnopneua said. “He allowed just two runs. We just didn’t support him. We didn’t score. Not to take anything away from Tiburon, they’re a great team.”
The scoring ballooned in the top of the sixth inning after Singer singled to load the bases with no outs. Baserunners Kaden Kissling and Aaron Koval both were caught between third and home as it looked like West Marin might escape without any damage, but Singer worked his way around to third and eventually stole home on a passed ball. Then Adelman returned to haunt West Marin with a two-run double off the right fielder’s glove.
Tiburon starter Jack Miller lasted just 3.2 innings after reaching the 79-pitch limit, but he did a solid job forcing batters to hit into easy outs. Reliever Casey Nelson entered in the fourth to shut down West Marin, striking out four of the nine batters he faced. The last out was a short fly ball that landed in Saouaf’s glove to ignite the celebrations.
“We’re a great offensive team, I mean, we put up five runs against a really good West Marin team,” Kevin Kissling said. “But we’re also deep in pitching. If you look at the score, we have pitching and offense. That’s what we’re good at. Jack Miller was just rock solid. He came in to shut them down and that’s exactly what he did.”
Tiburon Peninsula’s title-winning roster featured Adelman, JJ Hendy, Kaden Kissling, Koval, Miller, Toby Minty, Nelson, Caleb Rodenbeck, Saouaf, Grayon Singer, Zander Ting, Jackson Tucker, and Bode Van Pelt.
The team was managed by Kevin Kissling with assistants James Hendy, Tobin Van Pelt, and Jeff Osher.
West Marin was led by Basso, Hugo Slavinsky, Niko Canela, Colby Thongnopneua, Charlie Ignacio, Marshall Swenty, Orion Springer-Lich, Carston Kunz, Jett Faircloth, Asher Vidinsky, Cavan Grimmer and Henry Rode, with manager Clay Thongnopneua and coaches Ramon Ignacio and Nick Vidinsky.