By Aidan Mathews
After the District 39 All-Star tournaments came to an end this past week, Aptos Little League brought home one more trophy to their historic collection.
Aptos’ 9-10-year old squad won the District 39 Championship after a dominating performance at Pajaro Valley Little League. They defeated Scotts Valley Little League 10-7 to take home the title.
Although the championship game was close, the final score doesn’t reflect Aptos’ dominance in this tournament. Aptos crossed home plate a total of 47 times over the course of the five-day tournament, never finishing a game with less than double-digit runs.
Much of Aptos’s 8-9 All-Star team was reminiscent of the TOC champion AAA Mariners earlier this summer. Both Trevor Polk and Jake Galster who played on the TOC champion Mariners returned to the diamond once again to play in the 9-10 All Stars tournament in Scotts Valley.
Unfortunately, the 8-9’s did not have the success the Mariners had in their tournament weeks ago. Aptos lost in the finals against the talented Watsonville American Little League team who finished with one loss to Aptos in tournament play and handed Aptos both of its two losses.
Coach Rob Polk of the 8-9’s team recognized the tenacity of his team despite the disappointing championship loss.
“We were one of four teams to make through pool play 2 weeks ago” Polk said. “We then fought out of the losers bracket.”
And fought they did. Aptos wasn’t fazed by the fact that Watsonville had won both games up to the championship game by a combined 19 runs. Aptos forced a single-game playoff for the District title by defeating Watsonville 5-2 in a competitive contest.
Aptos’ 11-12 team finished comparable to the 8-9’s. They made it to the finals of the tournament, but lost a close game to Scotts Valley.
Similar to the 8-9’s, the 11-12’s suffered their two losses of the tournament to the same team. Scotts Valley handed Aptos its two losses by a combined 3 runs, winning the first match-up 1-0 and the championship rematch 6-4.
The Aptos 10-11 squad lost its first two games of their tournament to Santa Cruz National (12-11 final score) and Santa Cruz American (13-6 final score).
Summer doesn’t end for the Aptos boys, the 9-10’s will move on to Section 5 play due to their success in the District 39 tournament. Be sure to check them out, they will play locally at Aptos Little League’s home diamond starting July 12.
Aptos 8-9 All-Stars Pre-game in dugout before beating Watsonville 5-2. Lost the next game to them for the All Star Championship.