Defense paved the way for the Goleta Valley South League Little to win the championship at the District 63 10-11 All-Star Tournament on Wednesday.
Goleta Valley turned three double plays and played its third straight errorless game in beating Ventura Foothill 8-1 in the title game.
Goleta Valley advances to the Section 1 Tournament on Sunday at Montalvo, where it will face the winner of the Moorpark vs. Orcutt National game.
Trey Klopstein pitched 5 2/3 innings with only 65 pitches, striking out three, and allowing five hits and one run to get the victory. Blake Katsev relieved him, striking out the only batter he faced to close out the game.
Goleta Valley got rolling in the second inning when DJ Sharpe and Sam Roberts hit back-to-back doubles to drive in runs for a 2-0 lead.
A single by Kyle Ownsby scored Ryan Guardino, and a sacrifice fly by Josh Feldhaus brought home Katsev (who singled earlier in the inning) to make it 4-1 after three innings.
In the fifth, Guardino just missed hitting a home run and later scored on Josh Feldhaus’ RBI double. A defensive error and a passed ball scored three more runs to bring the score to 8-1.
Members of the championship team are Ryan Guardino, Kyle Gonzalez, DJ Sharpe, Josh Feldhaus, Blake Katsev, Sam Roberts, Trey Klopstein, Thomas Hantgin, Louis Shalhoob and Kyle Ownsby. Dan Feldhaus is the manager and John Guardino the coach.
