The Silverada Little League program will double its pleasure and be well-represented at the state Little League tournament this week.
Representing Dayton, both the Silverada 9-10-year-old and 11-12-year-old all-star teams won the District III title and will each face three other teams from the state. The 11-12-year-olds will play for the right to advance to the Western Regionals in San Bernardino. Lampe Park in Gardnerville will host the state event.
Silverada's 11-12-year-olds will begin play in the double elimination tournament at 2 p.m. Saturday against Peccole. In the other game, Washoe will face Green Valley at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
The championship round will be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, with another game scheduled for Wednesday if necessary. Silverada's 9-10-year-olds will open at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Silverada's 11-12-year-old team also won the 9-10-year-old tournament two years ago. "It's almost exactly the same group of kids," manager John Remington said.
Two years ago and this year, Silverada had to come back and win the district title the hard way. In both years, Silverada lost to Elko, but came back to beat Elko twice in the championship round.
This year, Silverada lost to Elko 10-3. But Silverada came back to beat Elko 3-2 and 4-1 in the championship round behind complete game efforts from Brett Remington and Michael Vincent, respectively.
John Remington realizes his team is going up against bigger programs and may not be given much of a chance.
"I know we're underdogs," Remington said. "We know how to play baseball, too.
"I think we've got a good chance. They never quit. They have a lot of heart."
Remington will start on the mound against Peccole. Silverada has a deep pitching staff with Vincent, Ryan Beruman, Cory Yoder, Shiloh Oden and Brandon Aguilera.
The starting lineup for Silverada has been Ryan Ransdell at catcher, Oden at first, Yoder at second, Vincent at shortstop, Beruman at third, Joey Larson in left, Aguilera in center and Anthony Onstott in right. Rounding out the team are Zach Rispin, Cory Lindberg and Rory Torvick.
Silverada won the district title with solid hitting, pitching and defense.
"We were strong at all facets of the game," manager Remington said.
9-10-YEAR-OLDS
Silverada's 9-10-year-olds also took the hard way to the district title, losing its first game to Elko, 1-0. But Silverada came back to win seven games in eight days. Here's a recap of how Silverada did it:
SILVERADA 10, BATTLE MOUNTAIN 3
The game was tied 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning when Ryan Mathes hit a home run over the centerfield fence. Silverada went on to score six more runs in the inning.
SILVERADA 17, LOVELOCK 4
Connor Conroy pitched a complete game for the win. Johnny Pollack went 3-for-4 and Ryan Tookey was 2-for-3 as Silverada banged out 12 hits.
SILVERADA 7, HIGH DESERT 6
Nick Bircheff threw a complete game and Tookey went 2-for-4.
SILVERADA 10, WHITE PINE 3
Silverada scored five runs in the first and never looked back. Logan Garling pitched four innings for the win and Tookey finished up over the last two innings. Ray Waters and Pollack each went 2-for-3.
SILVERADA 15, ELKO 7
Silverada trailed 7-1, but scored three runs in the third and four in the fourth and fifth. Conroy pitched five innings for the win.
SILVERADA 21, SOUTH LYON 3
Silverada needed to beat South Lyon twice for the title. In the first game, Silverada broke the game open by scoring 16 runs in the third. Garling pitched three innings for the win and Mathes went 4-for-4.
SILVERADA 12, SOUTH LYON 5
Tookey was the winning pitcher and Pollack went 4-for-4 with two doubles and a triple.
After being shut out by Elko in its opener, Silverada came back to outscore its opponents 92-32 the rest of the way. It was an impressive effort over a nine-day span in temperatures up to 110 degrees.
Team members are: Conroy, Bircheff, Mathis, Dennis Wahl, Pollack, Josh Walker, Nick Ehrenfeldt, Teddy Pollack, Garling, Tookey, Waters, Kyle Onstott, Derek Fitchett.
Charles Whisnand is the Nevada Appeal Sports Editor.
