On Monday, June 5, the Giants of Mountain View Little League extended their season for at least one more game.
Facing elimination, the Giants narrowly defeated their in-league rival Red Sox by the score of 2-1 at McKelvey Park in Mountain View.
Trailing by 1 and down to the last six outs of their season, the Giants rallied in the top of the fifth to notch up the score on catcher Hunter Simmons’ RBI single to center. They would score again in the top of the sixth on Daniel Tangi’s RBI grounder to short.
The Red Sox had already beaten the Giants five times in the regular season and once more in the playoffs, making this victory a sweet one for the Giants.
“It was really fun,” said Giants starter Steven Nakahama, “They play a good game.” Nakahama pitched six solid innings of one-run baseball. His only blemish came from the bat of his counterpart, Red Sox pitcher Colton Bellandi, who smacked an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the third.
Bellandi also pitched a strong six innings, and the Giants had to earn their runs off the hard-throwing right-hander.
“I’ve coached for a long time,” said Giants coach Joe Mitchner after the game, “You don’t get a game too often where two kids throw that hard.”
A rematch of these two teams decided the MVLL Champion on Wednesday, June 7, after the Voice went to press. The winner of that game advances to the District 44 Tournament of Champions, beginning June 19.
