By Chuck Taylor
The Alpine Sun
 

     ALPINE — The Alpine American Little League All Stars journey to the World Series in Pennsylvania ended Monday evening, but they did not hop off the train without a valiant fight.
     With a 12-2 record coming into the sub-division playoffs, Alpine faced a team that was remarkably similar to themselves. Solana Beach took an early 1-0 lead which Alpine came back and tied. The tie remained unchanged until the bottom of the fifth when Solana Beach scored another run making it 2-1.
     In the top of the sixth Alpine showed they were not about to give up without a fight, scoring two runs and putting them up 3-2.
     Unfortunately, Solana Beach was the home team and so in the bottom of the sixth, they scored again, tieing the game and creating an over-time situation. The score remained tied as the two teams continued to play crisp, heads up baseball. In the bottom of the seventh, Solana Beach once again tied up the game.
     Everyone knew that the eighth inning would be decisive as the sun was beginning to set. Through the top of the eighth, the score remained tied and as Solana Beach came up to bat and scored a run, abruptly ending the game and Alpine’s dream of continuing on to the Little-League World Series.
     Should fans be disappointed? Yes, a bit. It was a long road to get to the Sub-division playoffs, however, the Alpine team gave fans a season unlike any other 11-12 year old All-Star team has ever come close to equaling.
     The Alpine All Star 11-12 team won the district championship, the journeyed to Brawley playing in +100 degree heat and won the section championship and soundly defeated Riverside in the subdivision playoffs before finally being eliminated.
     What a season. Manager Bill Cummings and the entire team should take pride in their tremendous accomplishments.
     It would be easy to single out a couple of players as being MVPs, however it was the entire team that went forward, while over 80 other teams in the area were sitting at home.
     With that in mind, below you will find a list of the players and a little information about each one of them. They are all Super Stars in District 41, which includes Alpine, Rios Canyon, El Cajon, Santee, Lakeside, Fletcher Hills, Jamul and Casa De Oro.

Gerardo Avila. Nickname: G-money. Joan Mac Queen. Has played four years.
Casey Balikian. Nickname: Bakin. Joan Mac Queen. Has played two years.
Ryan Burdette. Nickname: Rhyno, Joan Mac Queen, Has played 8 years. (The radio broadcast team re-named his nickname to Freight Train)
Noah Cummings. Nickname: No No, Joan Mac Queen, Has played six years.
Andrew Grant. Nickname: Hotpants, St. Kieran, Has played nine years. (Although Andrew Grant attends school outside of the Alpine District, Mark Price said that he will be considered as an Honorary Student at Joan Mac Queen. AUSD Superintendent Greg Ryan announced Tuesday, that the entire team will be recognized on opening day at JMMS this fall.)
Shane Kirk. Nickname: Kirky, Joan Mac Queen, Has played five years.
Nathan Murray. Nickname: Nate, Joan Mac Queen, Has played seven years. (Nathan Murray was injured during the games in Brawley and was unable to play in the Sub-division playoffs. His speed was greatly missed.)
Samuel Pounds. Nickname: Ace-K, Joan Mac Queen, Has played seven years.
Michael Randel. Nickname: Big Boy, Joan Mac Queen, Has played nine years.
Matt Reynolds. Nickname: Matt, Joan Mac Queen, Has played nine years.
Josh Rose. Nickname: J-Rose, Joan Mac Queen, Has played nine years.
Codie Simmons. Nickname: Cutie, Joan Mac Queen, Has played eight years.
Ryan Tanksley. Nickname: RT, Joan Mac Queen, Has played six years.

     All of East County should be proud of these young athletes. In play and in sportsmanship they represented us all and made us proud.