Down by three runs in the last inning, Goleta Valley South staged a dramatic comeback and pulled out a 5-4 victory over Ventura Foothill in a battle of unbeaten teams in the District 63 Little League 12-Under All-Stars Tournament on Wednesday.
Goleta Valley South (3-0) wins its pool of the tournament and advances to the double-elimination round on Saturday against Montalvo at Girsh Park.
Blake Katsev started the rally with a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut Goleta’s deficit to 4-2. Kyle Ownsby followed with a single and Thomas Hantgin stepped up and homered on an 0-2 pitch to tie the game at 4-4.
The hot hitting continued as Josh Feldhaus singled to right and Kyle Gonzalez and Carson Vom Steeg reached base on bunt singles to load the bases. Trey Klopstein completed the comeback with a walk-off fly ball to center field, scoring Feldhaus.
“The Foothill pitcher gave us trouble tonight, he pitched very well,” Goleta manager Dan Feldhaus said. “Our backs were against the wall and our boys responded. It was a great come-from-behind victory for us tonight”
Foothill hit three home runs to build a 4-0 lead after three innings.
Goleta broke the shuout in the fourth on a solo blast by Ryan Guardino.
Ownsby and DJ Sharpe combined to hold Foothill to only one hit for the final three innings.
Saturday’s game starts at 1:30 p.m.
