SAN BERNARDINO – For Glendora American Little League manager Randy Tymchak, it’s a matter of keeping things in perspective.
The Southern California representative was eliminated from the West Region Little League Baseball Tournament on Sunday, suffering a 7-6 defeat against Sidewinder Little League when Brandon Ashing scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth. Arizona will play the loser of Monday’s Northern California-Hawaii game on Wednesday.
“The West is a really strong region, so a good team was going to go home early,“ Tymchak said. “I couldn’t be more proud of what we did for our city and our league.”
The loss in walkoff fashion on Sunday was a bitter pill to swallow. Glendora American also lost a tough game on Saturday by a 3-0 score to Honolulu Little League when they faced two very strong pitchers who struck out 16 batters. Glendora American’s Josh Calcanas limited Honolulu to one run over five innings, striking out 10 batters.
Glendora scored three runs in the top of the second. Aiden Garcia singled home a run in the inning. He was on the back end of a double steal, and was tagged out after teammate Kole King stole home.
Sidewinder Little League scored four runs in the bottom of the second, although Glendora tied the score in the third inning when Calcanas scored on an infield out. Each team scored two runs in the fifth inning. Glendora’s runs came as the result of an error, while Erik Lopez had an RBI triple and scored on Wes Wolfley’s single for Sidewinder.
“We were not ready to go home,” said Sidewinder manager Troy Silva, adding that his team came out flat in Saturday’s loss to Northern California. “We were much better and we hit the ball well.”
Silva said that either Troy Tewers or Jason Clubb will pitch on Wednesday. He said the team had not lost in the district or state tournament before Saturday’s setback.
Tymchak, whose son, Preston, is a team member, had lost interest in baseball after suffering a rotator cuff injury that required Tommy John surgery. He pitched at Baylor and transferred to Cal State Fullerton for his sophomore season. He was able to throw 94 miles an hour before the injury. The best he could do afterward was 86 miles an hour.
“I got involved seven years ago when my son Evan was four and played tee ball,” Tymchak said. “We’ve seen a lot of growth and maturity, and these young men will be successful in their lives.”