Swinging Through the State

YOUNTVILLE — The infield was in, the outfield was in and Auburn’s best available pitcher was in.

But the pitch was up and Valley North shortstop Matt Fisher hit it out.

Fisher’s one-out grand slam in the bottom of the 11th inning gave Valley North, which twice trailed by eight runs, a 16-12 victory over Auburn and the American Legion state baseball title Tuesday at the Veterans Home of California.

Valley North advanced to regional playoffs Aug. 15-20 in Boise, Idaho, where the team will play for the right to represent the West in the American Legion national playoffs Aug. 22-26 in Rapid City, S.D.

“This is definitely a dream,” Fisher said. “I was hoping to get up in that situation. I saw the outfield playing shallow and I just wanted to get something up in the air. I didn’t think is was going to go out.”

Needing a victory to force a winner-take-all second game against Valley North, Auburn could not hold leads of 8-0 and 12-4 against a Valley North offense that produced 45 runs and 37 hits in three tournament games and finished the tournament as the only undefeated team.

“We are always the underdog,” Valley North co-captain Tim Weigand said. “They say we don’t have enough pitching. But we don’t have a soft spot in our lineup and we never think we are out of a game.”

Auburn sent pitcher John Bartsch in to protect a 12-11 lead with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the ninth. Bartsch, who was scheduled to start the afternoon game had Auburn won, did his part. He got Fisher to hit a line drive right at Auburn third baseman Ben Parker, but Parker dropped the hot smash and Bryan Gant scored the tying run on the error to send the game into extra innings.

In the 11th, Bartsch issued a leadoff walk to Gant and Joe Tillmon singled. After Loren DeVries sacrificed the runners to second and third, Bartsch hit Tim Weigand with a pitch before hanging a curveball to Fisher.

“Our hitting just keeps rolling along,” Valley North Coach Matt LaCour said. “Unless we see a really good pitcher, we’re going to be tough to beat and the farther along we go into this thing the more we have the advantage because the pitchers are going to get tired.”

Fisher, one for eight in the first two games, had two singles, a double, a home run and the game-tying line drive in six at-bats against Auburn.

He said relaxing during Monday’s off day helped him get back on track.

“I played pool and won some money from my teammates,” the 15-year-old Fisher said.

“I wasn’t hitting so well, so I just tried to get comfortable--banging my head against the wall till I felt right.”