Hitting, pitching and defense, oh my! Take your analogous pick of animal, whether that’s lions, tigers or bears, one thing is most certainly clear: the Sunnyvale Junior All Stars were the obvious alpha dog while playing on the eve of America’s Independence Day at Los Altos Purissima Park. 

Sunnyvale walloped its Ferrasci Park Little League opponents by a final of 22-4. The Salinas area Little League appeared overmatched against the Silicon Valley squad from the very opening pitch. While he would end up caught in a pickle between first and second, Sunnyvale leadoff man Charlie Torbenson hammered the first pitch of the game off the fence in right-center field; he simply hit it too hard to have time to get to second base. The long single was the start of an inning for Sunnyvale that saw the team score three runs, and on an individual note, the start of an incredible performance at the plate for Torbenson. 

Torbenson would later draw a walk and then add multiple extra-base hits. The third baseman hit a triple down the opposite-field line and hit another line-drive shot down the same right-field line for a double that was hit so hard that the ball lodged itself in the fence. In the field, Torbenson also shone from his third base spot, making strong throw after strong throw from across the diamond, making the 90-foot bases look like child’s play.  

“We’ve definitely been working on the longer distances since the last year or two, myself and some of my teammates have played on older age groups for a while,” acknowledged Torbenson after the big win. “It can be a bit of a challenge for those who haven’t played as much on the bigger field.” 

The Sunnyvale leadoff man wasn’t the only one who made the big-league diamond dimensions look like no big thing. Starting catcher Alex Yim threw out an early base runner trying to steal second while the game was still relatively close. He also helped guide starting pitcher Gabe Gaul throw an impressive four innings of one-run ball. It was a very economical use of throws for Gaul; the Sunnyvale ace only needed 48 pitches to get through four frames. 

“We did what we needed to do today, Gabe did really well,” chimed Yim postgame. “He was filling up the zone, attacking the hitters and getting weak contact.” 

Yim also had one of the loudest hit balls of the afternoon when he smacked a line-drive single into left field from his third spot in the lineup. 

“He’s our workhorse,” chimed Sunnyvale Manager Albert Tang on his starting catcher. “I love Alex; he does everything we ask of him. I don’t know what else to ask of him except continue to work hard for his teammates as he always does.”

Additional highlights for Sunnyvale in the opener included Nolan Hagan who made a nice running catch in left field and had an RBI double as part of his performance. Brendan McElwee had a pair of hits in his first two ABs, helping set the tone from his two-spot in the order, and Russell Tang added a three-run double late in the game that pushed Sunnyvale’s run total over the 20-run mark.