Folsom American can't solve Maidu in title games

Outside of the Folsom American 50-70 All-Stars who won the District 54 championship, the lone Folsom or El Dorado Hills little league all-star team to team reach the finals of the District 54 tournament was the Folsom American Major All-Stars. Folsom American won their first four games of the tournament, defeating Maidu on July 3, 13-7, to reach the championship round. But Maidu came back to beat Woodcreek, 8-7, and then handed Folsom American their first loss of the tournament on July 8, 2-1. In the championship game the following night, Maidu defeated Folsom American again, 8-3, to claim the District 54 title. Suffice to say, Folsom was feeling pretty good after their 13-7 win over Maidu on July 3. Travis Kaestner and Jake Garcia both homered and Derek Bjork had five RBIs in the win. Folsom American overcame an early 3-1 deficit with four runs in the third, one in the fourth, and seven more in the fifth. A two-out, three-run triple from Bjork in the third inning put Folsom American on top, 4-3, and the team would continue to pile on runs the rest of the way. Kaestner and Garcia hit their home runs during the team's seven-run fifth inning. Both were no doubters, as Kaestner left the yard to right-center, and Garcia to left. The homer for Kaestner was his second of the tournament. Bjork, Kaestner, Garcia and Calvin Rico each finished with two hits, and Matthew Kouvaris scored three times. Andrew Pangburn (2.0 IP), Ben Stone (3.2 IP) and Grady Geissinger (0.1 IP) each pitched for Folsom American, and Stone got the win. Stone is now 2-0 at the tournament, and leads the team in innings pitched. Bjork (5) and Kaestner (3) combined for eight of the team's 10 RBIs. The team finished with 10 hits. "Our bats had been a little quiet during the tournament, and they really came alive today," Folsom American manager Ryan Bjork said. "We got offensive contributions up and down the lineup, and we needed it against a very good Maidu team. The energy in the dugout tonight was incredible, and our players have consistently come through in big moments throughout this tournament." Maidu needed to beat Folsom American twice, and they accomplished the task with a 2-1 win on Saturday night, and an 8-3 victory on Sunday night. With the losses, Folsom American, which played in the Majors All-Star championship game for the second straight season, was eliminated. In the opening game Saturday night, Maidu scored a single run in the top of the sixth inning to take a 2-1 lead. Folsom American had the potential tying and winning runs on base with no outs in the bottom of the sixth, but failed to score. Folsom American's Travis Kaestner was outstanding on the mound, allowing just six hits and two unearned runs with seven strikeouts over six innings. In Sunday night's game, Folsom American jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Maidu scored eight unanswered runs, including four in the fifth inning, to win the game, 8-3.