Sonoma Little League Bears, Tigers both win; sets up rematch

Winner will host semifinal game on Thursday.|

It was a joyous Fathers Day Sunday for both Sonoma Little League teams in the opening round of the District 53 Tournament of Champions as the Tigers beat Fairfield Atlantic and the Bears beat the Cordelia Tri-Valley Rockies.

The Tigers traveled to play the Fairfield Atlantic A’s and shut them out, 6-0. Anthony DeTorres got the win on the mound and also went three-for-three at the plate and scored two runs. Max Harrison put the game out of reach with a three-run blast in the bottom of the second. The home run was his 15th of the season, which is remarkable in a year that has seen a sharp downturn in big flys. Justin Bauer also knocked in three for the Tigers.

The Bears, who were playing at home at Hughes Field, trounced the Rockies 11-1 in a game that was stopped after five for the 10-run rule.

The Bears were led by the blistering hot bat of Noah Giovannelli, who went four-for-four at the plate and drove in four runs. Donovan Riebli’s first inning bases-loaded double blew the game open, and handed a comfortable 6-0 first-inning lead to the Bears 12 year-old pitching trio. Luke Giusto struck out five in the first two frames, Andrew Bonfigli worked the third, then Ben Sebastiani closed the game with two scoreless innings.

Both teams advance to the TOC Quarterfinals, where they will play each other at 5:30 pm today, Tuesday at Hughes Field, in a rematch of the June 10 Championship Game.

This sets up an unprecedented event – two Sonoma teams playing each other at home in a TOC. The winner will advance to host the semifinal game of the single-elimination tournament, Thursday night at Hughes Field.

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