Peck's Dramatic Blast Lifts Twin Cities A's to TOC Title

Despite having lost five games during the regular season, the Twin Cities A’s got hot at just the right time and wound up winning the District 3 Little League Junior Division Tournament of Champions in exciting manner.

After having dispatched of the defending champs from Dixie-Terra Linda in the semifinals, the A’s got a three-run homer from Tyler Peck to break a sixth-inning tie en route to a 4-1 victory over San Rafael in the finals of the tournament for 13- and 14-year-olds.

“I would never have believed we could win the TOC with this team, but they really jelled,” admitted A’s coach Rich Epidendio. “Little by little, we made our way through it.”

The club, managed by Steve Stewart, recorded a 14-5 record in the regular season, facing not only the Twin Cities Giants but also competition from the Ross Valley, Mill Valley and Tiburon leagues. Second baseman Sarah Ihnken, the team’s leadoff hitter, and catcher Max Margulies were among the team’s top players in league play.

The A’s earned Twin Cities’ automatic berth in the District 3 event by virtue of compiling a better record than the Giants, then benefitted from a first-round bye in the TOC due to the fact Ross Valley couldn’t field a team.

That set up a semifinal pairing with the defending champs, but the A’s outlasted the Dixie-Terra Linda entry in a high-scoring affair.

The finals, on the other hand, were not high-scoring at all. In fact, the game was scoreless until San Rafael scored an unearned run against Brian Heck in the top of the fifth inning.

But the A’s countered immediately with a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth, setting the stage for Peck’s dramatic 275-foot blast to dead center field for the difference-making three runs in the sixth.

Heck reached his pitch limit with one out in the seventh inning, but Devon Pence came on to save the game by getting the final two outs.

The hard-throwing Peck had been the team’s top pitcher throughout the season. Nate Flax and Addy Brady added depth to a quality pitching staff.

Michael Albinson, a freshman who played on Branson’s baseball team, gave the A’s a boost after he became eligible late in the season.