Crowe Gets Novato North All-Stars Into Win Column

Mitchell Crowe belted a two-run home run and a two-run double in a powerful performance that was the difference as the Novato North Little League 11-12 All-Stars defeated the rival Novato South squad 8-4 in pool play of the District 3 tournament.

Both of Crowe’s hits came in the first two innings. Jason Franks also had two hits and one RBI.

Dominic Burke and Calvin Wright combined to strike out 10 Novato South batters, and the Novato North defense took care of the rest.

Here’s a capsule look at each of the Novato North All-Star teams:

11-12-Year-Old All-Stars

Roster: Noah Boyd, Dominic Burke, Mitchell Crowe, Matthew DeFilippis, Logan Desmond, Jason Franks, Joseph Galli, Kyle Jones, Jacob Jossart, Jacob Pullan, Julian Villamante, Calvin Wright.

Results: San Francisco American 7, Novato North 2; Novato North 8, Novato South 4; Twin Cities 7, Novato North 0.

Remaining schedule: Wednesday at Ross Valley, 5:30 p.m.; Thursday at Dixie-Terra Linda, 5:30 p.m.

Note: Single-elimination quarterfinals begin Saturday.

Coach Bill Burke’s thoughts: “After losing on Saturday to a very good San Francisco American team, (Sunday’s win) was a great bounce-back victory. We swung the bats much better, especially early in the game. We have our pitching lined up pretty well for this coming week, so hopefully that translates into a couple of wins." 

10-11-Year-Old All-Stars

Roster: Jack Duffin, Joseph Garbarino, Logan Gleeson, Hudson Grady, Riley Grover, Colin Hickey, Jacob Kennedy, Jared Myers, Christian Pedersen-Seaman, Justin Simonetti, David Thoma, Brandon West, Harrison White.

Results: Novato North 8, Novato South 1; Novato North 16, Novato American 2; Dixie-Terra Linda 13, Novato North 6; Tiburon 27, Novato North 0.

Remaining schedule: Tuesday at San Rafael, 5:30 p.m.; Wednesday vs. Mill Valley at Babe Silva Field, 5:30 p.m.

Note: Single-elimination quarterfinals begin Saturday.

9-10-Year-Old All-Stars

Roster: Charlie Dial, Max Glasser, Luke Hance, Matthew Lozovoy, Beau McAndrew, Cole McCue, Connor Moylan, Adriano Puppo, Jake Schmidt, Spencer Shifs, Beau Thompson, Max Widergren, Nathan Williams.

Results: Novato North 4, Ross Valley 3; Novato North 12, Tiburon 8; Dixie-Terra Linda 6, Novato North 5.

Highlights: In the team's first game, Ross Valley took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning before Novato North tied it up. Then with one out in the last of the sixth, Max “Roadrunner” Glasser got on first. Matthew Lozovoy followed with a single into right field. With Glasser on the move, he scored easily to win the game.

Connor Moylan was the story in the win over Tiburon. He mowed down the first nine batters in a row, using just 31 pitches. Novato North put up four runs early and never looked back.

Novato North appeared headed to a third consecutive win against Dixie-Terra Linda as Matt Lozovoy shut out his opponent for five straight innings. Novato North took a 5-0 lead into the sixth, but Dixie-Terra Linda rallied for six runs to win a thriller.

Remaining schedule: Tuesday vs. Novato American at Babe Silva Field, 5:30 p.m.; Thursday vs. Twin Cities at Babe Silva Field, 5:30 p.m.

Note: Single-elimination quarterfinals begin Saturday.

Coach Brian Moylan’s thoughts: "Two close ones and one that was never really close despite winning by only four runs. Our parents are yelling 'Torture!' with every game."