Riding the arm and bat of Chase Madden the Exeter Little League All Stars fought past Porterville All Stars on July 5 in a 3-2 extra inning win at the District 34 Tournament in Tulare.
With two outs in the seventh inning AJ Tobias tripled setting up a clutch single off the bat of Chewy Marquez for the go ahead run.
Lance VanGrouw entered the game in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the save, and he did so in dramatic fashion.
With runners at first and third and two outs Tobias turned in a spectacular play at second base. He snatched a hard line drive and threw the runner out at first to end the game.
Tobias wasn't the only one flashing the leather. Aaron Estrada ran down a ball in right field with the bases loaded in the fifth inning.
Exeter jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a Madden home run, only to see Porterville respond with a run of their own.
Exeter got on the board again in the second on an RBI base hit from Justin Griffie.
The score would hold until Porterville evened it up again in the fifth inning.
Madden was the biggest difference maker in the game throwing six innings allowing just two runs on three hits while striking out 10 Porterville batters.
With the win Exeter will take on Corcoran today at the Tulare Little League Park. The winner of the game will advance to the Section Tournament.
