Orland major baseball all-stars in finals

The Orland 11-12 baseball all-stars advanced to the finals of the District 47 all-stars tournament in Willows after edging Chico Westside 7-4 on Saturday.

Andrew Shippelhoute proved to be formidable on the mound and at the plate for Orland as he struck out 10 batters in six innings and also blasted a pair of home runs.

The only sign of vulnerability came in the fifth inning when Chico Westside made a game of it by belting two home runs over the course of three at-bats to close the gap to 6-4.

However Shippelhoute struck out the next batter to end the inning, hit a home run in his at-bat in the top of the sixth, and then set Westside down in order in the bottom of the sixth, including a strikeout on the final batter.

There were plenty of other heroes as well for Orland, which took a 5-0 lead in the first inning and played solid defense throughout.

Levi Paschall got the rally started in the first with a one-out basehit. After a groundout moved Paschall to second, Shippelhoute roped his first home run of the game over the centerfield fence for a 2-0 lead.

But Orland wasn’t finished. Theron Fumasi singled in the next at-bat and Shay Shull added a basehit to right field that allowed Fumasi to move all the way to third base. Shull was able to run to second base on the throw to third, which proved pivotal in the next at-bat.

Tony Esquivel hit a slow roller in between first and second base that drew the Chico Westside first baseman off of the bag. Although the second baseman was able to field the ball, there was no one on first to receive the throw. From there, it was a foot race to the bag with Esquivel just beating the Chico Westside second baseman.

Meanwhile, both Fumasi and Shull raced home to give Orland a 4-0 lead.

Esquivel scored when Alex Wunsch laid down a bunt and the Chico Westside pitcher over threw first base. The error allowed Esquivel to race home all the way from first base.

Orland was able to add one more run in the sixth inning when Fumasi singled and scored on back-to-back hits by Esquivel and Wunsch.