Thousand Oaks Brought Down by Venezuela, 4-2

KISSIMMEE, Fla. —  Thousand Oaks’ bid to win the Little League Senior World Series came to an end Saturday when it lost to champion Maracaibo, Venezuela, 4-2, at Osceola County Stadium.

Thousand Oaks (19-2), needing to defeat Maracaibo twice to win the title, was held to six hits after pounding 14 in an 11-3 victory over Mobile, Ala., on Friday.

Maracaibo (18-0) won its second World Series title in three years. The Venezuelans beat Northridge for the 1994 Little League title in Williamsport, Pa.

Thousand Oaks, which won the 1994 Little League Junior championship, was also shooting for its second World Series title in three years, but suffered its second loss of the tournament to Maracaibo, whose roster included seven players from its 1994 team.

“I’m overcome with emotion,” said Maracaibo Manager Luis Fuenmayor.

So was Thousand Oaks counterpart Ed Kitchen.

“I’m not sad we lost,” he said. “Losing is part of baseball. My sadness is because my time with these kids is over.”

Thousand Oaks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Doug Hutton singled home Wes Munyon with two out, but Maracaibo scored the next four runs.

The Venezuelans tied the score, 1-1, in the second when Wilmer Villalba singled, stole second and scored on Luis Gonzales’ double.

They took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when pitcher Ronny Rodriguez (7-0) scored on a sacrifice fly by Oscar Cortez.

Maracaibo added a run each in the fifth and sixth, but Thousand Oaks loaded the bases with one out in the seventh.

Eduardo Ferrer, who recorded two victories and a save in the 1994 series in Williamsport, came on in relief of Rodriguez.

He got Munyon, the tournament leader with six extra-base hits and nine runs batted in, to pop up, but Matt Rogers’ single narrowed Thousand Oaks’ deficit to 4-2, and brought up Kevin Howard.

Howard, who was batting .524 (11 for 21) in the tournament, took a pair of curveballs for strikes, then popped to shortstop Wilker Perozo to end the game.

“Mostly I feel disappointment,” Howard said. “What kills me is that we worked so hard to get this close to come so close. Nobody should feel victorious after losing the last game of the season.”

Hutton was more philosophical.

“They got all the breaks,” he said. “Ours never came.”

Thousand Oaks had runners on first and second with one out in the fourth, but took itself out of the inning on a bizarre double play.

Jonathan Shepard took a called third strike on a 3-and-2 pitch, but thinking it was Ball Four, moved toward first base, sending Chris Catalano toward second. Maracaibo catcher Guillermo Quiroz saw what was happening and ran the ball toward second and Catalano was eventually tagged out by first baseman Cortez in a rundown.