Mill Valley Juniors Earn Top Seed Entering Semifinals

The Mill Valley Little League Junior All-Stars have staked their claim as the team to beat in the upcoming single-elimination portion of the District 3 tournament by virtue of three decisive victories to begin pool play.

Mill Valley thumped San Francisco 7-2, Twin Cities 10-1 and Dixie-Terra Linda 14-1 to vault atop the standings with just one game remaining before the tournament. The squad faces West Marin (0-3) on Thursday night at White Hill Field in Fairfax to conclude pool play.

Mill Valley already has clinched the top seed headed into Saturday’s semifinals in San Francisco. That distinction was assured after Tuesday’s triumph over a Dixie-Terra Linda team that also had entered the game undefeated.

Saturday’s semifinal winners will advance to the District 3 finals on Monday night in San Francisco.

Here’s a capsule look at each of the Mill Valley All-Star 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.

Results: Mill Valley 3, Novato American 2; Dixie-Terra Linda 14, Mill Valley 11; San Francisco National 8, Mill Valley 1; San Francisco American 4, Mill Valley 2.

Remaining schedule: Thursday at Tiburon, 5:30 p.m. Single-elimination quarterfinals begin Saturday.

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.

Results: Mill Valley 7, San Francisco 2; Mill Valley 10, Twin Cities 1; Mill Valley 14, Dixie-Terra Linda 1.

Remaining schedule: Thursday at West Marin. Single-elimination semifinals begin Saturday.

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.

Roster: San Francisco American 19, Mill Valley 1; Mill Valley 7, San Francisco National 3; Mill Valley 14, Novato South 0; Mill Valley 16, Novato American 0; Mill Valley 4, Dixie-Terra Linda 2.

Highlights: After a loss in Game 1, the team has rallied to roll off four wins a row thanks to a solid mix of good pitching, strong defense and timely hitting. Two of the four wins were hard-fought games and the Mill Valley team performed well under pressure. In Tuesday’s win over Dixie-Terra Linda, Mill Valley fell behind 2-1 in the fourth inning, but rallied for three runs with two outs and held on for the win. 

Remaining schedule: Single-elimination quarterfinals begin Saturday.

Coach Doug Berg’s thoughts: “As coaches, we’re pleased with how the boys are responding, playing as a team, supporting each other and enjoying the entire All-Star experience. Our goal is to win (Wednesday’s) game and hopefully secure a No. 2 seed in the knockout round.

“Fifteen boys will have played in at least three games this All-Star season and this inclusive style will hopefully bode well for our team next year as the more kids we can play and get experience, the better. As with last year’s 9-10 team, this is a great group of kids and we’ve really enjoyed their energy, focus and passion for the great game of baseball.”

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.

Results: Twin Cities 8, Mill Valley 6; San Francisco National 10, Mill Valley 0; Mill Valley 10, Novato South 4.

Highlights: The club defeated Novato South 10-4 at Dunphy Field in Novato for its first victory in the District 3 tournament. Josh Herz smashed two doubles to go along with Andrew Frame’s big two-RBI single, and Ben Wenig knocked two in with a double. On the mound, Alex Bires and Eli Larson combined for 12 strikeouts over six innings to secure the victory.

Remaining schedule: Thursday vs. Dixie-Terra Linda at Boyle Park, 5:30 p.m. Single-elimination quarterfinals begin Saturday.