The Santa Cruz National Cubs won the District 39 Little League Majors division Tournament of Champions on Tuesday night, beating the Capitola-Soquel Athletics, 8-0, at Ruso Field in Watsonville.
Yemi Agbellakale and Frankie Simpson sparked the victory with RBI singles in the first inning and Gavin Craig capped it with a two-run homer in the fourth.
Jake Florenza tossed a complete-game two-hitter.
The Capitola-Soquel A’s held off the Pajaro Valley Padres, 8-2, in the semifinals on Monday to advance.
The Padres only trailed 2-0 until Bradley Olivo smashed a three-run home in the fifth inning.
Reece Hamalainen and Aiden Sabatino both had an RBI for the Padres in the loss, which ended their wild run through the loser’s bracket.
After falling 10-4 to the A’s in their tournament opener, the Padres reeled off three straight victories to earn a spot in the semifinal.
Behind key hits from Brody Legions, Samuel Garcia and Sabatino, they beat the Santa Cruz American Astros, 18-16.
The Padres beat their cross-city partners, the Watsonville American Red Sox, to advance to the semis. Hamalainen belted a two-run homer and Ruben Mora hit a two-run triple, while Legions hammered a three-run jack and double in the 14-5 victory.
The Watsonville American Red Sox finished the tournament with a pair of wins, both of which came against the Aptos Orioles.
Jorden Espinoza’s three-run home run in the first meeting sparked the Red Sox’s 15-4 win, while Josiah McKenzie and Nate Garcia’s RBI singles powered a seventh-inning rally in an 11-10 victory.
Aptos won its opener, 13-6, over the San Lorenzo Valley High Giants before falling in their next two. Aiden Higgins, Oscar Drew, Nick Tovani and Noah Brackett all had RBIs in the win.
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AAA MINORS
• Cap-Soq dominant in title win – Capitola-Soquel won the District 39 Little League Minors Tournament of Champions on Tuesday at Harvey West Park in Santa Cruz.
Capitola-Soquel beat Santa Cruz National, 11-1, to win the title. It was the third time in four games it had scored 10 or more runs.
The Watsonville American and Pajaro Valley champions both lost their opener, and the latter wound up eliminating the former in a 6-0 win.
Pajaro Valley squeezed out one more win, beating San Lorenzo Valley, 9-2, before losing a 10-9 heartbreaker against Santa Cruz National in an elimination game.
Aptos won its first two games, but lost its next two. Aptos beat Scotts Valley and Live Oak in one-run fashion, but was unable to hang with the eventual champion in an 11-6 loss. It was eliminated by Santa Cruz National via a 9-5 defeat.
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8-9s
• Cap-Soq holds off Aptos – Capitola-Soquel won the winner-take-all final over Aptos to secure the District 39 Little League 8-9s Tournament of Champions title on Wednesday in Capitola. After losing 10-7 to Aptos on Tuesday, Capitola-Soquel recovered with a 12-6 win.
Aptos won its first two games but lost its third against Capitola-Soquel. It had to survive an elimination game against San Lorenzo Valley in order to play for the title.
Watsonville American finished the tournament 1-2. It lost its opener to Aptos, but was able to bounce back with a win over Santa Cruz National before being eliminated by Scotts Valley.
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7-8s
• Cap-Soq wins title – Capitola-Soquel rolled to the District 39 Little League 7-8s Tournament of Champions title with an 11-3 win over San Lorenzo Valley on Tuesday in Felton.
Capitola-Soquel won four straight games to capture the crown. It scored nine or more runs in all four wins.
Aptos advanced to the winner’s bracket semifinal, but lost against Capitola-Soquel and then was eliminated by S.L.V. in an 8-6 loss.
Watsonville American staved off elimination once before being bounced by Scotts Valley. It beat Santa Cruz National after falling to Aptos, but ran out of steam in an 18-7 loss to Scotts Valley.
