Vipers dominate in Dugout Classic, win championship
GILROY – The Silicon Valley Vipers, a 10-under travel baseball team, won the March 2 Dugout Classic Championship with a perfect 3-0 record through pool play – including come-from-behind victories over the Pleasant Hill Pirates and Los Altos Pony Start. The Vipers then held off Monterey’s ABA Rebels by an 8-7 finale in the championship game.
The Vipers were backed by strong pitching and solid defense plus timely hitting from everyone in the line-up en route to their fourth straight tournament championship.
In the opening game, the Vipers found themselves down two runs in the last inning, but rallied to tie the Pirates – which failed to score in the bottom of the inning. The Vipers came up big with seven runs in the extra frame to win, 12-5.
After defeating the San Jose Hornets, 10-3, in game-two, the Vipers scored five runs int he top of the final inning to beat the Los Altos Pony Stars, 8-7, to advance to the semifinals.
In a rematch against the Hornets, the Vipers used a balanced attack and solid pitching to go score 15 unanswered before finishing up, 15-3.
In the championship, the Vipers forged a 703 lead after four innings and led 8-5 at the end of the fifth. But the Rebels came back to within one run before the Vipers held on for an 8-7 nod.
The Vipers team members are Brett Fuller, Boo Boo Garcia, Nico Diotalevi, Nicholas Pusateri, Timmy Giles, David Rotter, Richie Martinez, Tyler Kiefer, Mark Harris, Aaron Cimino, and Michael Valentin. The coaching staff of Nick Pusateri, Tom Giles and Rich Martinez were pleased with the team’s never-quit-attitude.
In their seventh tournament together, the Vipers have been in the championship game in every one and hold a 37-6 overall record as well as being ranked number one among USSSA 10-under teams.
