Rockies win Little League crown

Joe Tucker had his "Norman Dale" moment. But unlike the Gene Hackman character, the coach in "Hoosiers," who told his team "I love you guys" before it took the floor for its championship game, Tucker was able to save his moment for after his club won the title. For the second time.

The Rockies won the Carson City Little League 11-12-year-old title on Thursday at Governor's Field by beating the Indians 6-0 in the championship game.

"Everybody contributed to this," Tucker told his team after the game. "You guys deserved it. I love you guys."

After directing the Rockies to his first ever title as a coach last year, Tucker was brought to tears. He was able to fight back the tears this time. Barely. "I'm very proud," Tucker said.

T.J. Thomsen allowed one hit while striking out nine over 5.1 innings for the Rockies, who got all their runs on seven hits in the second inning.

Thomsen and Gehrig Tucker helped the Rockies win the title last year as 10-year-olds. "It feels good," Thomsen said. "Two years in a row is really special."

The game was a battle between the National League champion Rockies and American League champion Indians as both teams were able to make it through the championship tournament to reach the finals.

Thomsen was pulled after recording the first out in the fifth as he was nearing the Little League maximum pitch count of 85 pitches. He had thrown 77 pitches when he was lifted.

"T.J. threw great," coach Tucker said. "That was probably his best outing. He was focused. He ws determined. He showed a lot of maturity."

But the Indians made it interesting after Thomsen came out. "That team right there, they're scrappy and play hard," said coach Tucker about the Indians, who added they can come back at any time.

Casey Wolfe reached on an infield single against Gehrig Tucker, who then walked Zack Harjes and hit Hunter Wilfert to load the bases with one out. But Tucker went on to strike out the next batter and induced a popup to end the game.

"I was nervous in the sixth inning," coach Tucker said. "A home run, they're right back in the game with one out."

Matt Nolan began the Rockies rally in the second with a single. Cayze Valez and Cory Zacha each followed with RBI doubles and Willie McDonald hit an RBI single. After Thomsen singled, Daniel Okimura followed with an RBI single and Hunter Hand hit a two-run single to make it 6-0.

Wolfe, who entered in the second inning, eventually shut down the Rockies the rest of the way, striking out five over four innings.

"I'm very proud," Indians coach Craig Stevens said. "They're a bunch of scrappy kids. They came through as a team and in my opinion they were an awesome team. I've never had a better team. Our team plays with clear eyes and full hearts."

The closest the Indians came to scoring off of Thomsen came in the second when Bruce McIntosh singled and went to second on Nate Stevens sacrifice bunt, but that was as far as McIntosh would advance.

"They did great and they deserved every bit of the win," said coach Stevens about the Rockies.

Okimura had two hits and also made two outstanding plays at shortstop. He robbed Wilfert of a hit in the fourth when he made a play in the hole and threw to second for the force. He also robbed Nolan Shine in the fifth when he made a diving catch of a ball in shallow left centerfield.

Nolan also had two hits and Tucker and Eugene Mills each added a hit for the Rockies. Rounding out the Rockies roster were Caden Mitchell and Chance Bakta.

Rounding out the Indians roster were Nicholas Lani, Jordan Luhrs, Jason Rush, Jack Thompson, C.J. Woons, Jason Reynolds and assistant coaches Shannon Harjes, Jack Luhrs and Chris Wolfe.

Little League notes: The annual fund-raising Father's Day pancake breakfast will be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at Seeliger Elementary School. Tickets are $4 per person and will be available at Seeliger. Among the prizes to be given away in a drawing will be a Toyota 4X4 truck donated by Dick Campagni and luxury box tickets for an Oakland Athletics game against the Texas Rangers on Sept. 15.