West Sac Little League sweeps District Championships
Jun 27, 2022 12:00AM ● By By Aleecia Gutierrez
The West Sac 50/70 Blue team pictured from left to right: Coach John Penunuri, Jordan Ohki, Tyce Hinkel, coach Phil Hinkel, Evan Brown, Kingston Molina, Jayden Moreno-Lewis, Justin Pratt, Adrian Carter, Johnny Penunuri, Luke Hinkel, Riley Pulaski, Chris Ayres and coach Rick Pratt. Photo courtesy of Melissa Brown
WEST SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) – The West Sacramento Little League recently swept the District 6 Championships, bringing home the banners in every division except juniors.
Juniors was the only division that the WSLL did not win because the league doesn’t have a juniors team. Lucky for the other leagues, otherwise West Sac likely would’ve won that division too.
On Sunday morning, June 12, the West Sac 50/70 Blue team brought home the District 6 Championship banner, after defeating the Rio Linda Brewers 5-4 in the championship game.
Tyce Hinkel pitched the entire game, striking out some of Rio Linda’s big hitters and picking off a couple of runners with first baseman Evan Brown. Third baseman Kingston Molina fielded two hard grounders, making back-to-back plays with Brown.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Brewers had a good run, bringing in four runs. The score was 5-4 in the top of the seventh inning, and the Blues swiftly ended the game with a three up, three down inning. Luke Hinkel ended the game, catching a pop up behind second base.
The 50/70 Tournament of Champions started on June 4, with two teams competing from West Sacramento: the 50/70 Blues and the 50/70 Reds. The two teams faced off on Saturday evening, June 11, after the Blues lost their first Tournament of Champions game to the Brewers. The Blues emerged victorious in a 6-2 win over the Reds.
The Reds played a total of four games in the TOCs, winning against the Rio Linda Giants and the North Natomas UCLA Bruins, and losing to the Blues. The Blues worked hard this season to earn the victory. This win against an undefeated team was the perfect end to a great season.
The Triple-A Yankees won the championship 7-6 in the sixth inning over the Triple-A Braves on Sunday. The Yankees went 18-1 between the regular season and TOCs, only losing to the West Sac Braves during the season. The Triple-A Braves came in second place. The Braves’ only losses in the regular season and the TOCs came against the West Sac Yankees.
The majors Braves defeated the West Sac Mariners in the league championship 1-0. The Braves’ only loss in the regular season came against the Mariners. In the TOCs, the majors Braves went 3-0, scoring 40 runs and allowing only three runs by their opponents.
