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Kidz split two games going into second half of tourney CERES -- The LB Kidz split two games this weekend at the George Costa baseball tournament beating Gustine 4-2 Sunday after being handed a tough 13-1 loss to Bel Passi two days earlier. There is still a week's worth of baseball to play in the double-elimination tournament and with a loss on its record the LB Kidz can afford few mistakes. But the team proved Sunday it wasn't going down without a fight, performing well on offense while shutting down Gustine with strong pitching.
Chris Carnero hit 3-for-3 with a RBI and Nick Schulke hit 2-for-2 helping Los Banos get its four runs in the first three innings. Jorge Acosta started on the mound for the LB Kidz pitching two innings and giving up only one run. Chris Castillo followed with three shutout innings of middle relief before handing the ball over to Kenneth Remula for the close. "They played well today," LB Kidz' manager Tim Keldsen said. "Gustine was good, but our guys gave it all that they had." Things didn't go as well Friday for the LB Kidz' against Bel Passi though. The LB Kidz kept the game close through the first two innings, but Bel Passi ran away with the game by third inning. Castillo started on the mound giving up one first-inning run, but Michael Severino evened the score in the second inning when he crossed home plate on a passed ball. Bel Passi's offense exploded in the third inning, scorching the LB Kidz' defense for eight runs. Bel Passi rallied again in the fourth inning scoring four more runs to make the game 13-1. "It took us a little while but we eventually woke up," Bel Passi coach Kraeg Fulbright said about his team's offensive performance. "Once they see the pitcher one time through they start hitting them good." The LB Kidz tried to get a rally started with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, quickly loading the bases on singles hit by Castillo, Acosta and Jacob Griffith. But two straight strikeouts closed the door on the LB Kidz scoring opportunities and brought the game to an early end with the 10-run rule. "[Bel Passi] was a little bit better prepared today," Keldsen said. "They made better contact and had a couple of seeing-eye hits that fell and hurt us." The LB Kidz also made good contact with the ball Friday, but weren't fortunate enough to see them fall into the gaps. "When we swung the bat we hit well, but we just couldn't get a break," Keldsen said. "We don't get chances though when we don't swing the bat." Keldsen said he was proud of how his team has played over the last couple weeks considering most of them haven't played together for very long. "We're a young team and they're good players, but they just couldn't find some good breaks," Keldsen said. "That's the way I saw this game." The LB Kidz played again Monday night against Ceres, but game
information was unavailable as of presstime.
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