NAPA, Hospital lock up in intense Little League series

After an earlier Little League Championship Series game one win, NAPA's no-quit attitude paid off in game two.

Down by five runs at one point, NAPA took advantage of walks and aggressive base running to take a commanding two game lead in the series with an 11-7 win.

The Bellevue Hospital took advantage of two NAPA errors in the top of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. After a lead-off strikeout, Kenyon Missler laid down a nice bunt. An errant throw over the first baseman's head allowed him to move all the way to third. Charlie Dendinger immediately followed with a blooper that spun out of the glove of pitcher Brad Willis, allowing Missler to score. After a flyball out to center, Drew Ring ripped a single to score Dendinger, giving Hospital a two run lead.

NAPA's patience at the plate allowed them to get one run back in the bottom of the first inning. Walks to lead-off hitter Tyler Rospert, and Cole Norman set up an intentional walk to NAPA's big hitter Matt Dudek.

With the bases loaded, it was up to Hospital's pitcher Dendinger to get out of the inning with minimal damage. He did just that by forcing one batter to pop out at short, and striking out the next batter. With two outs though, Jeff Roeser patiently took a walk, forcing in Rospert to make it only a one run game. Dendinger then struck out the next batter.

"Charlie did a great job to get out of that inning with only one run scored," said NAPA coach Brian Gonzales.

In the top of the second inning, NAPA pitcher Brad Willis came on to strike out the side, giving NAPA a chance to keep it close.

Hospital's Kenyon Missler relieved Dendinger in the bottom of the second. After a quick groundout, Josh Burris knocked a single, and Rospert took a walk. Hospital's defense then came through with a big double play to keep the score in their favor, 2-1.

The top of the third was big for the Hospital. A lead-off single by Dylan Fultz, a big triple by Dendinger, and a hard single by Josh McNeely gave Hospital two more runs. Drew Ring took a walk, than Jacob Weider hit into a fielder's choice, but no out could be made. With the bases loaded, Tristen Pocock got hit by a pitch, bringing home the fourth run of the inning. Two groundouts to NAPA second baseman Tyler Rospert finally got NAPA out of the inning, down by five.

NAPA didn't quit though. Dudek took a lead-off intentional walk, Willis was hit by a pitch, and Clay Fries drew another walk. Jeff Roeser made good contact, sending a ball through the second baseman on the play, Dudek scored while Willis tried to make it home. A perfect relay from center allowed Dendinger to nail Willis at the plate for the first out.

After a strikeout for the second out, Josh Becks took another walk to load the bases for NAPA's Josh Burris. He slammed a hard chopper through the infield all the way to the fence, clearing the bases. Another relay from Dendinger got Burris out at home, but not before NAPA pulled within one, 6-5.

"Josh has been coming through all year for us at the number nine spot. He did it again," said Gonzales.

The top of the fourth inning saw pitcher Cole Norman take over. After a lead-off walk to Fultz, he immediately tried stealing second on the same play. A heads up play allowed Norman to nab Fultz as Willis applied the tag. Norman then forced Missler into a groundout to Rospert at second, then followed with a big strikeout to Dendinger for the third out.

With NAPA still down by one, Tyler Rospert led off the bottom of the fourth with a big double off of new Hospital pitcher Dylan Fultz. After a strikeout, yet another intentional walk was given to Dudek. Willis was again hit by a pitch to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed Rospert to score, tying the game at 7-7, as Dudek and Willis moved up one more base. With the speedy Dudek at third, Clay Fries hit into a fielder's choice to the pitcher, allowing Dudek to score. NAPA now led 8-7.

Hospital's Josh McNeely led off the fifth with a hard double, but Cole Norman struck out the next three batters to keep NAPA up by one.

NAPA still kept coming. With one out, Josh Burris ripped his third hit of the game. Rospert took another walk. Both speedsters advanced a base on a wild pitch. Then, Norman hit a long sacrifice fly to left, scoring Burris while Rospert moved to third. Dudek was then given his fourth intentional walk, eventually stealing second. Brad Willis drove a ball through the shortstop, scoring Rospert and an aggressive Dudek.

Clay Fries poked a single and Jeff Roeser walked, loading up the bases again. Logan Iannello, 10, responded with a hard chopping single to score Willis, putting NAPA up by four.

In the top of the sixth, Hospital's Austin Guthrie led off with a single, but NAPA's pitching and defense stood strong. Cole Norman struck out the next batter on three pitches. Norman was then replaced by Matt Dudek, which would allow Norman to start game three.

Dylan Fultz immediately hit a single up the middle to NAPA centerfielder Josh Burris. He quickly unloaded the ball to shortstop Willis, who then fired a perfect strike to third baseman Jeff Roeser, applying the tag to a sliding Guthrie for the second out.

Hospital's Missler then walked, and a wild pitch allowed Fultz to score, but Dudek quickly answered with three straight pitches to strikeout Hospital's final batter, giving NAPA an 11-7 win.

"We had a team on base percentage of .618 in this game. Patience was the key. Four intentional walks to Matt Dudek allowed him to score three times, while 12 other walks helped push runs across the plate. Our kids were pumped, and they all contributed," said Coach Gonzales.