El Dorado Hills reaches championship round

The El Dorado Hills Express, meaning the El Dorado Hills 10-11-year All-Star team, keeps rolling along. A 4-1 win Tuesday against Chico Central has El Dorado Hills in the state championship round of the All-Star Tournament. It was the team's third straight win of the tournament. A win Thursday and the state championship is theirs. A loss, and they've got another chance to win it on Friday. Chico will play the winner between Alameda and Willow Glen on Wednesday, and the winner of that game will face El Dorado Hills in the championship on Thursday, having to beat them twice. George Bergamo pitched a fabulous game against Chico, throwing 5.2 innings and allowing one run on two hits, while striking out four and walking none. "George was really efficient on the mound today," El Dorado Hills' Manager Jason Reichard said. "He didn't waste pitches, pitched to weak contact and struck out guys when needed. It was another great pitching performance. We've been able to get him into the right spots all summer long. I couldn't be happier for him." JJ Filippini came in for the last out and gave up two singles before ending the game. Chico actually scored first in the top of the second on a double and later a single that knocked the runner in. El Dorado Hills immediately tied the score in the bottom of the inning when Matt Gabbard singled but was forced out on Cole Gibbons' ground ball. Gibbons then advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored on Colton Cagle's single that got by the center fielder on an error. El Dorado Hills scored the go-ahead and game winning run in the fourth. Logan Reichard led off with a walk. Later with two outs, JJ Filippini doubled to center field to push Reichard to third. Brady Gill then doubled to score two runs to put El Dorado Hills in front 3-1. El Dorado Hills scored one last run in the fifth inning when Gibbons singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and then scored on a throwing error by Chico's shortstop on a ball hit by CJ Ard. "We played high-level defense behind George and we had nine hits from nine players against a crafty lefty from Chico. It was a good win for the boys from El Dorado Hills. Now it's on to the championship game." Game 2 El Dorado Hills held a comfortable 3-0 lead midway through the game against Madera American on Sunday before things got tight. Madera American cut the lead to one, 3-2, after the third inning and then tied the game in the fourth, as they were determined to make El Dorado Hills work hard for their second win of the tournament. El Dorado Hills came back with two runs in the fifth and four in the sixth to win the game, 9-5. "We beat a very good, gritty, well-coached Madera team," Reichard said. "The final score does not reflect the actual game; this was a dog fight. Our boys have been on the baseball field 40 of the last 50 days. The level of determination, grind and love for the game is something special to watch." El Dorado Hills scored single runs in each of the first three innings. In the first inning, Jack Trier reached on an error and scored on George Bergamo's single. In the second inning, Aayden Whitworth doubled in a run, and in the third inning, Matt Gabbard singled in the third run. With the game tied at three after four innings, El Dorado Hills came back in the top of the fifth with two runs. Trier tripled in one run and Bergamo then drove in Trier with a single. El Dorado Hills managed four runs in the top of the sixth inning, as Wilson Center and Bodhi Washburn both hit two-run singles. The bottom of the lineup continues to come through for the team. Center singled, drove in two and scored two runs. Washburn and Whitworth each had two hits with Washburn driving in two runs and Whitworth knocking in one. "The bottom of the lineup came up big again today," Reichard said. "From the pitching to the defense to the hitting this was a team win. Good things to come for sure." After a tough game in the first game on Saturday, Bergamo had three hits and two RBIs on Sunday. On the mound, Cole Gibbons started the game and threw 2.2 innings and allowed two runs on two hits and struck out two. JJ Filippini threw two innings and allowed one run on four hits and one strikeout, while Logan Reichard finished the game, throwing the last 1.1 innings, allowing two runs on two hits.