Mill Valley Juniors, 9-10 All-Stars Set for Showdowns Tonight

The Mill Valley Little League Junior Division All-Stars rode an incredible performance by Mason Collins to a 3-0 win over Twin Cities Saturday, sending to club to the District 3 finals Monday night against Dixie-Terra Linda.

The championship game is set for 5:30 p.m. at Alto Field behind Edna Maguire School.

The Mill Valley 9-10 All-Stars also advanced Saturday, knocking off higher seeded Dixie-Terra Linda 10-6 to advance to Monday’s second round. That semifinal game against San Francisco National is slated for Boyle Park at 5:30 p.m.

Mill Valley’s two other entrants in the District 3 single-elimination event saw their seasons come to an end over the weekend, but not without putting up a fight.

The 10-11 All-Stars blasted Novato North 10-0 to advance to the semifinals, but then lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to San Francisco National on Sunday. The 11-12 team gave unbeaten Twin Cities a battle before come up just short, falling 8-5.

For the Juniors, Collins had a day to remember Saturday at Alto Field, pitching 6 1/3 innings of perfect ball and getting a key two-run single to lead the squad to a win.

The right-hander used a variety of speeds and locations to keep the Twin Cities hitters off-balance. Only a one-out double off the bat of opposing pitcher Tyler Peck in the top of the seventh inning got in the way of pitching perfection.

Mill Valley's defense was perfect, handling 17 chances. Third baseman Angelo DeLorenzi had a flawless day at third base, getting six assists on groundballs.

"Mason Collins had quite a day, and the defense was just spectacular," Mill Valley manager Ken Praszker assessed.

Mill Valley struck for two runs in the bottom of the second when Collins laced a line drive into right field to drive in Brett Bowyer and Jack Elias. The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the sixth, when Bowyer launched a massive 340-foot home run to improve the lead to 3-0.

"Bowyer has been hitting bombs all tournament,” Praszker noted.

Now it’s on to Monday’s finals.

“Dixie will be a worthy opponent and they have several real tough pitchers,” Praszker said. “So far our method has been great pitching and solid defense. We have only allowed a total of five runs in five games and committed a total of four errors. If we keep true to these numbers, we will be tough to beat."

Meanwhile, the win by Mill Valley’s 9-10 team might be considered an upset based on the seeding, but Dixie-Terra Linda had to know this might be coming. The teams met just two nights earlier, with Mill Valley handing Dixie-TL its first loss of pool play, 12-8.

In Saturday’s rematch, Ben Wenig, Alex Bires and Joe Press blasted big doubles to go along with multi-hit games by Eli Larson, Jimmy McCormack and Andrew Frame. Bennett Flynn also contributed a clutch two-run single in the eight-run second inning.

Larson pitched three shutout innings and Frame ended the game with a first-pitch groundout to seal the victory.

“The boys took a couple of pretty good punches from the Dixie team in the first two innings. I really wanted to see how our boys would respond,” Mill Valley coach Scott Larson said of a 5-0 deficit. “Would they fold or fight back?

“Man, did they ever fight back. Eight runs in the bottom of the second and two more in the third made a really strong statement against a very good, very well coached team, and brought us closer together as a group.

“It was a great learning experience that will hopefully serve us well as we head into the semifinals against a very tough San Francisco team."

The Mill Valley 11-12 team was three outs away from advancing to the semfinals before Twin Cities rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth inning. Alex Wilson led off the sixth with a game-tying home run that turned the tide for the winners, who also got a pair of home runs to lead off the game.

“It looked like we were on our way, but the Mill Valley pitcher settled in nicely,” noted Twin Cities coach Bill Ryan.