Sloppiness costs Merchants BABE RUTH REGIONAL

Oakland Tribune, Jul 29, 2006 by , STAFF REPORTS

ALAMEDA -- The Alameda Merchants' 18-and-under baseball team lost to Southern California champion San Gabriel Valley 6-0 in the second round of the Babe Ruth Western Regional at College of Alameda on Friday.

San Gabriel broke through for a pair of runs in both the second and third innings. The SoCal champs finished with just four hits -- the same number as the Merchants' -- but benefited from six bases on balls and four Alameda errors.

The Merchants loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh inning, but the rally ended on a strikeout. Brandon Beal was the only Alameda player with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-3.

The Merchants, who received an automatic bid to the regional as the host team, are still alive in the losers bracket. They play at 4 p.m. today against the winner of the 10 a.m. Castro Valley-Nevada game. Alameda beat Nevada in the opening game of the regional.

Castro Valley, which defeated Alameda in the NorCal tile game, was shut out by Central California champion Watsonville 4-0 in the early game on Friday. Watsonville plays San Gabriel Valley at 1 p.m. today for a spot in Sunday's finals.

If the Merchants win their game today, they would play the loser of Watsonville-San Gabriel at 10 a.m. Sunday. The winner of that matchup would advance to the finals, in which it would have to win twice to take the regional.

The Western Regional champion advances to the Babe Ruth World Series, beginning Aug. 10 in Newark, Ohio.

12-YEAR-OLDS

WOODLAND -- The Oakland Americans had to go extra innings to remain unbeaten in the Western Regional, pulling out a 2-1 win over Nevada.

After six innings of play resulting in a 1-1 tie, Tiara Wilson doubled leading off the seventh and was driven home by Travis Pillon.

James Harris went six strong innings for Oakland before being relieved by Eric Parnell, who pitched a perfect seventh.

Oakland locks up a spot in the semifinals. The winner of the Western Regional receives a bid to the Babe Ruth World Series, starting Aug. 13 in Aberdeen, Md.