Falcons fly high, win Jr. Olympics

The Cal Falcons, a travel baseball team made up of several 16-year-old players from Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley, won its division and gold medals last weekend at the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics in Sacramento.

The Falcons went 6-0 in a tournament that featured teams from San Francisco south to San Diego. They are coached by Jim McCarthy.

In the championship final, the Falcons defeated the El Dorado Vipers of Sacramento, 1-0. The game’s lone scoring in this pitchers’ duel came in the third inning when Adam Lander singled, moved to third on a single by Jason Aden and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ray Strazzulla.

Starting pitcher Christian Ziething, who went 2-0 in the tournament, threw a four-hit shutout with six strikeouts. He was aided by a strong defense that included an over-the-shoulder catch and centerfielder Anthony Falcon’s running catch of a ball headed up the gap, and left-fielder Adam Lander’s catch at the fence in the seventh inning.

In other tournament games:

Falcons 12, Cal Pirates 2

In the quarterfinal round, the Falcons scored 10 runs in the first two innings to earn a mercy rule victory over the Cal Pirates of Rosamond.

Ray Strazzulla finished with three hits, Tim Soonthorngarun doubled twice and Matt Brockel, Kyle Myers, Anthony Falcon, Jason Aden, Danny Tiffany and Jake Bailey all had key hits.

Falcons 14, Diablo Valley 0

The Patriots from San Francisco, who had scored 40 runs in their previous four games, were no match for the Falcons who coasted to the semifinal victory.

Michael Nakamura’s pitching gem was a one-hit shutout.

The Falcons recorded their highest hit total — 16 — of the tournament. Danny Tiffany had three of those hits and Nakamura, Tim Soonthorngarun, Ray Strazzulla, Matt Brockel and Jake Bailey each had two hits and a two-run double by Kyle Myers in the third inning broke the game open.

The Falcons, managed by Jim McCarthy and coached by Ralph Falcon and Ed Strazzulla, are Anthony Falcon, Christian Ziething, Michael Nakamura, Kyle Myers, Matt Brockel, Adam Lander, Tommy Cameron, Jake Bailey, Timmy Soonthorngarun, Brenton McCarthy, Kevin Osaki, Danny Tiffany, Jason Aden and Ray Strazzulla.