Jefferson City wins 11U Little League district championship

Jefferson City's Caiden Sanford (left) slides safely into home plate under the tag of Daniel Boone National catcher Dawson Peters during the first inning of the first championship game Sunday in the Little League 11U District 4 Tournament at Duensing Field.
Jefferson City's Caiden Sanford (left) slides safely into home plate under the tag of Daniel Boone National catcher Dawson Peters during the first inning of the first championship game Sunday in the Little League 11U District 4 Tournament at Duensing Field.

First it was the interference call that wasn't. Then it was the protest that wasn't.

In the end, the result was a momentum swing for Jefferson City's 11U Little League team in a win-or-go-home scenario.

Jefferson City scored three runs on the controversial play, taking a lead it would never relinquish against Daniel Boone National of Columbia. Jefferson City captured the District 4 championship with a 14-5 win in the "if necessary" game Sunday at Duensing Field.

Daniel Boone National, which emerged from the loser's bracket, won the first game Sunday 7-5 to force a second game between the two teams.

"A bunch of these kids were on the 10U team last year, and we did the same thing," Jefferson City manager Jeff Meers said of his team dropping the first championship game before winning the second contest. "They came out with the championship game and had the chance to win it. Last year, we were just flat and thought we had the game won before it started. Today, they didn't. They fought back in the first game, and I'm proud of them for that.

"These guys are fighters, and they're going to keep going."

Daniel Boone National was leading 5-3 in the bottom of the second inning of game two when Jefferson City's Caiden Sanford stepped to the plate with one out and the bases loaded. Sanford hit a ground ball toward the shortstop that appeared to score one run for sure, but a few throwing errors on the play allowed Sanford to advance all the way to third base.

By the end of the play, three runs had scored, giving Jefferson City a 6-5 lead.

However, one of the field umpires initially called interference on Jefferson City's Zach Brown with National shortstop Jackson Smith as he made his way toward third base, which would have negated all three runs scoring.

Then during an umpire's conference, the field umpire appealed the call to the home-plate umpire, who overturned the call and let the original play stand, allowing the runs to score.

"I think they got it right," Meers said. "I think our guy was only a step away from the fielder. It wasn't like he ran out of the baseline or anything like that to cause any interference.

"It was close. Some calls go your way, some don't. You just have to live with them."

Two batters later, Daniel Boone National wanted to protest the game, which stopped the contest for 20 minutes. After conferring with officials - and calling the Little League hotline for a ruling - it was determined an umpire's judgment call could not be protested, and the protest had to be made before the first pitch to the next batter.

Jefferson City added one more run to lead 7-5 through two innings, then scored at least two runs in each of the next three innings.

Brown, who relieved Brody Johns on the mound in the top of the second, kept Daniel Boone National in check the rest of the game. Brown pitched 4 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just three hits. He struck out four batters and did not yield a walk, throwing 52 pitches and 40 for strikes.

"He hadn't pitched at all in districts," Meers said. "He pitched for his regular-season team quite a bit, and we coaches had not seen him pitch that much, so we didn't know what to expect. But we needed a pitcher. We gave him a shot at it, and boy was it worth it."

Sanford led Jefferson City at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one single, one triple and two RBI. He reached base in all four plate appearances and scored three runs. Johns added two singles and one RBI and Brown drove in two runs.

"We've got a great group of kids," Meers said. "They're disciplined at the plate and they do a great job."

Just as it had in game two, Jefferson City allowed five runs in the first two innings of game one against Daniel Boone National. Jesse Jorgensen limited the damage, giving up two runs in the final four innings of relief. He walked one and struck out six. Sanford started on the mound, walking four and striking out four in two innings.

Ben Bates hit an RBI single in the third to make the score 6-3. National added another run in the fourth, but Jefferson City closed the gap to 7-5 with a pair of runs in the fifth. Sanford scored on a wild pitch and Bates came home on a throwing error to make it a two-run deficit.

Jefferson City brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the sixth, but Daniel Boone National's Evan Tollemaar shut the door to get the save and force the "if necessary" game.

Bates had a single and two RBI to lead Jefferson City. Sanford scored twice and Johns and Logan Meers each had one double.

Jefferson City opened the district tournament Thursday with a 15-5 win in four innings against Daniel Boone American, then routed Daniel Boone National 14-1 in five innings Friday to reach the championship game. National topped American 12-9 in Saturday's elimination game to get a rematch against Jefferson City.

With the district title, Jefferson City advances to the Missouri 11U State Tournament, which is scheduled to begin Thursday in Joplin. Jefferson City averaged 12 runs per game in districts while allowing 4.5.

"It's nice to go in on a roll and putting up good numbers like that," Meers said. "It makes me feel more confident about going to state. We're going to have to score runs down there, because the teams that come there are going to put up runs."