Josh Vitters, THEN AND NOW

Railbird · Jul 26, 2007

THEN , AUGUST 2002

West Anaheim 4, Northridge City 1 (9 innings; TITLE)
<HR>Summary:

Josh Vitters led off the top of the ninth inning with an opposite field home run to propel his West Anaheim Little League team to a 4-1 victory over Northridge City Little League in the championship game of the Southern California divisional tournament at La Puente City Park.
The home run provided the game's first scoring. Vitters, the starting pitcher for West Anaheim, struck out fifteen batters, walked none, and did not allow a hit through six innings of play. Northridge's only baserunner came when Quinn Herrera reached on an error in the first inning.
Northridge starter Joshua Reece was equally effective. Reece also struck out fifteen and walked none through six innings, and allowed only two hits. His biggest strikeouts came in the fifth, when Edgar Correa led off the inning with a single and reached third base with nobody out following an error and a wild pitch. Reece responded by striking out the next three batters to end the threat, and then striking out the side in a 1-2-3 sixth inning.
Both starters switched positions after six innings, but neither team was able to break through until the ninth, when Vitters homered and Dustin Noel delivered a two-run single. Correa later scored on a wild pitch, as West Anaheim took advantage of a pair of walks and a Northridge error to build a 4-0 cushion.
Northridge scratched for a run in the bottom of the inning, and had two runners on base and the tying run at the plate before Correa, who allowed only one hit in three innings of relief work, struck out Northridge's fourth and fifth place hitters to end the game.
The run that Northridge scored in the bottom of the ninth was the first allowed by West Anaheim pitchers in 27 innings of work at the divisional. West Anaheim registered three shutouts in the new pool format used at the divisional, beating Saticoy 4-0 and La Sierra 5-0 to clinch a title game berth. The District 46 champions then completed a sweep of their pool with a 5-0 win over Long Beach, and eventually won their first ever Southern California championship.
Northridge, which reached the divisional tournament for the third time in four years, also controlled their pool from the start. The District 40 champions shut out Rancho Buena Vista 2-0 in their opener and downed Rancho San Diego 4-1 in their second pool game before rolling past West Yorba Linda 15-0 in four innings in their final contest.
Northridge finished fourth in the divisional in 2001, and was the runner up to Anaheim Hills West in 1999.
Follow West Anaheim at the Western Region Tournament -- Click here to view results.
<HR>Linescores:
<TABLE width="80%" border=1><TBODY><TR><TH align=left> Championship Game </TH><TH bgColor=#868600>1</TH><TH bgColor=#868600>2</TH><TH bgColor=#868600>3</TH><TH bgColor=#868600>4</TH><TH bgColor=#868600>5</TH><TH bgColor=#868600>6</TH><TH bgColor=#868600>7</TH><TH bgColor=#868600>8</TH><TH bgColor=#868600>9</TH><TH bgColor=#ffffff></TH><TH bgColor=#8c008c>R</TH><TH bgColor=#8c008c>H</TH><TH bgColor=#8c008c>E</TH></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#868600>West Anaheim <TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>4</TD><TD bgColor=#ffffff></TD><TD align=middle>4</TD><TD align=middle>-</TD><TD align=middle>-</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#868600>Northridge City <TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>0</TD><TD align=middle>1</TD><TD bgColor=#ffffff></TD><TD align=middle>1</TD><TD align=middle>1</TD><TD align=middle>-</TD></TR><TR bgColor=#ffffff><TD bgColor=#ffffff></TD></TR><TR bgColor=#ffffff><TD bgColor=#ffffff></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Railbird · Jul 26, 2007

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=581 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>Cubs' top pick is touted third baseman
Vitters widely viewed as top high school hitter in the country
By Marc Zarefsky / MLB.com
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3rd OVERALL BABY:money8:

Railbird · Jul 26, 2007

HAMMERIN HANK CONGER August 2000

Like many handymen, Huntington Beach Ocean View Little League manager Yun Conger has a a number of instruments in his toolkit. When he needed a special tool as the Southern California Divisional Tournament spiraled into its final showdown, Conger had a simple solution. He reached for his hammer.
In the 'if' game of the 2000 Southern California championship tournament, The Hammer took center stage. Hank Conger -- an imposing pitcher and hitter with an equally impressive nickname -- struck out the first twelve batters he faced and fifteen overall as Ocean View defeated East Yorba Linda 2-0 to claim the Southern California championship. In the process, Hank Conger, who previously had been limited by his coach/father to pitching only a few innings per outing, pitched his first complete game of the International Tournament.
Hank Conger's two-hit performance on the mound was the difference in the teams' third meeting of the tournament. While he was overpowering East Yorba Linda hitters in the early innings, Ocean View was scratching for the game's only runs. Trey Valbuena reached on a swinging bunt single in the second, and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches before scoring on Jeff Mollica's groundout. One inning later, Conger walked before scoring on Thomas Yoo's two-out single.
The championship game was the first meeting between the two clubs that was not decided by the longball. In the winner's bracket finals, East Yorba Linda pounded five home runs, including two by pitcher Patrick O'Hail, to easily beat Ocean View 7-1. After Ocean View rebounded by rallying late to defeat a tenacious Lancaster Parkview club 5-4, the District 62 champions forced the 'if' game by edging East Yorba Linda 3-2 in the first title series meeting. In that game, Hank Conger slammed a two-run homer in the third -- his 30th homer of the season -- and Dallas Walters added a solo shot in the fourth to give OVLL a 3-0 lead. East Yorba's Ryan Ackland sliced the lead with a two-run double in the fourth, but was stranded there when Ocean View hurler Valbuena escaped further damage. Valbuena limited East Yorba Linda to the two runs despite allowing six hits over four innings, and Yun Conger replaced the curveballer with burly fireballer Chris Palmer in the top of the fifth. Palmer struck out the side, and then retired East Yorba Linda 1-2-3 in the sixth to close out the victory.
Ocean View opened the tournament with wins over Section 6 champion Pomona American and Section 8 representative Singing Hills. Pomona American and Ocean View had last met in the championship game of the 1998 Southern California 9-10 year old tournament, with Pomona claiming the title. With many of the same players on the field in the 2000 11-12 year old tournament, Ocean View raced to an early 3-0 lead, and cruised to a 5-1 win behind a pair of Conger home runs. The next night, Conger's three innings of shutout relief helped lift the Huntington Beach club past Singing Hills 3-1. The Hammer took the mound in the top of fourth inning when Singing Hills threatened (runners at second and third with no outs) in a 1-1 game. He ended the rally by registering three consecutive strikeouts, and Ocean View then took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning. Tomas Yoo doubled and scored the lead run on Eric Jacob's single; Jacobs then moved to third on a Conger single, and eventually scored the game's final run on a passed ball. Conger followed his fourth inning heroics by striking out the side again in the fifth and holding Singing Hills scoreless in the sixth.
East Yorba Linda's path to the title game also included a tight second-round win. After a relatively easy 11-2 win over Parkview (who would win their next three games before being eliminated), East Yorba outlasted La Sierra American 5-3 in nine innings. EYL took the lead on O'Hail's two-run homer in the fourth, and added a run on a controversial call following a sacrifice fly in the fifth (many observers felt the runner who scored actually came up well short of touching home plate after his slide). Kyle Klix kept La Sierra's hopes alive with a game-tying three-run homer in the sixth that sent the game to extra innings, but East Yorba Linda's Francis Larson ended the game with a walk-off two-run blast in the bottom of the ninth.
Hank Conger's efforts led Ocean View to a berth in the West Region tournament, and they also overshadowed the tournament's top pitching performance. In a loser's bracket quarterfinal round game against La Sierra American, Pomona American's Louie Hernandez faced eighteen batters -- and retired them all. Hernandez's perfect game led Pomona to a 2-0 victory and helped lift his team into an eventual fourth place finish at the divisional tournament. Follow Ocean View at the Western Region Tournament -- Click here to view results.