Mill Valley All-Stars Resume Little League Title Hunt

Four teams representing the Mill Valley Little League kicked off District 3 All-Star play late last month at sites throughout Marin County. After a short holiday break, several of them are back at it tonight.

In the 11-12, 10-11 and 9-10 age divisions, the Mill Valley representative plays six games over the course of two weeks in an effort to qualify for an eight-team, single-elimination tournament that will eventually determine the district champion. That tourney begins Saturday.

In the Junior Division, Mill Valley faces each of the other five tournament entrants once in a round-robin format, with the top four advancing to a single-elimination tournament.

Here’s a capsule look at each of the Mill Valley teams:

11-12-Year-Old All-Stars

Roster: Taylor Bentley, Nick Buerger, Matthew Copeland, Tommy Dawson, Jack Dickson, Ethan Frankel, Jack Harris, Ben Lampl, Ryan Leake, Joe Levin, Charlie Lubenow, Jake Marquis, Will Muir, Henry Newman, Jack Newell, Connor Norton, Brooks Ryder, Max Sherman, Sam Spiegelman.

Schedule: Tuesday vs. San Francisco American at Boyle Park, 5:30 p.m.; July 7 at Tiburon, 5:30 p.m. Single-elimination quarterfinals begin July 9.

Coach Bill Lampl’s thoughts: “Boyle Park is such a special place and in many respects, the boys are leaving a bit of their youth behind when they move up to the next level. It's sort of the pinnacle of their Little League careers. They almost overpower the field. Hopefully, these boys will look back and realize how special this time was -- the friendships, their innocence.

“Bottom line, our goal is to have as much fun as possible. Next year it's a whole new deal. They move to a much bigger field and it's like starting over again.”

Junior Division All-Stars

Roster: Will Banks, Jeremey Bernstein, Gabe Bouchard, Brett Bowyer, Grant Campfield, Mason Collins, Will Coomber, Angelo DeLorenzi, Sammy Dorfman, Jack Elias, Jake Ferm, Ryan Hagfeldt, Sammy Huffman, Bennett Keane, Josh Khoo-Miller, Nick Petrov, Michael Praszker, Partick Shore, Dylan Takeyama, Henry Townsend, Asher Wenig.

Schedule: Tuesday at Dixie-Terra Linda (Vallecito), 5:30 p.m. Single-elimination semifinals begin Saturday.

Coach Ken Praszker's comments: "Our Junior team is loaded with talent. The squad is big and physical and they play well together. This group has a long history of postseason success and we expect to be in the championship game again this year. We have been practicing hard and we are very eager for the games to begin.

"This is the best time of the year and where lifelong memories come from."

10-11-Year-Old All-Stars

Roster: Jordan Baldwin, Jacob Berg, Nicki Brass, Tommy Civik, Ryan Copeland, David Fineman, Nicholas Johnston, Nikhil Kharkar, Patrick Knauer, Ben Lightner, Jack Loder, Kevin McDougal, Sam Pletcher, Kenny Quantara, Owen Schwartz, Lane Stervinou, Thomas Whalen, Ben Whitaker, Jackson Woods.

Schedule: Tuesday at Dixie-Terra Linda, 5:30 p.m.; July 6 at Novato North, 5:30 p.m. Single-elimination quarterfinals begin July 9.

Coach Doug Berg’s thoughts: “The Mill Valley Little League 10-11 All-Star team is eager for another crack at the District 3 title. After a 6-0 run last year in pool play and a tough one-run loss in the semifinals to the eventual winner, Dixie-Terra Linda, the team is back and even more focused and determined to make it to the finals and win the district.

“The team is solid mix of speed, defense, power hitting and a deep pitching staff. All the kids are eagerly looking forward to the entire All-Star tournament.”

9-10-Year-Old All-Stars

Roster: Alexander Bires, Cooper Carroll, Franklin Colburn, Bennett Flynn, Connor Finch, Matthew Fisher, Andrew Frame, Jack Hagfeldt, Josh Herz, Rex Hill, Jack Hildebrand, Julian Holden, Liam Howard, Owen King, Eli Larson, Jimmy McCormack, Jackson Moore, Oliver Morris, Joe Press, Zachary Van Vliet, Ben Wenig.

Schedule: July 6 vs. Tiburon at Boyle Park, 5:30 p.m.; July 7 vs. Dixie-Terra Linda at Boyle Park, 5:30 p.m. Single-elimination quarterfinals begin July 9.

Coach Scott Larson’s thoughts: "This is a fantastic group of boys. Their excitement, energy and passion for the game of baseball is infectious. They can also hit pretty well, too."