Alvarado's 3-run triple propels All-Stars over Corcoran

The Porterville All-Stars’ 12-year-old squad has started its season off strong.

Tuesday night, the All-Stars (2-0) moved into the District 34 Tournament semifinals by beating Corcoran 7-1, in Corcoran.

Monday night, Porterville’s 12-year-old team hammered the Visalia American All-Stars 11-0.

Tuesday’s pivotal point came in the fourth inning with the bases loaded.

Junior Alvarado cleared the bases with one swing, tripling in all three All-Stars.

The remainder of the All-Stars’ runs stemmed from errors by the Corcoran squad, coach J.R. Flores said.

Tuesday pitcher Nelson Roberts tossed four innings and was relieved by Angel Flores.

Flores got five outs and was one strike away from ending the game (the little-leaguers play six innings) when he had to be removed for hitting the 20-pitch limit.

Pitchers who throw more than 20 pitches cannot pitch in the team’s next game.

So, Chris Beltran came in, threw one strike and ended things.

Monday night, the All-Stars got a nine-strikeout performance from Nick Aguilar. 

The All-Stars won the game in four innings.

Flores was impressed by his pitcher’s strong outing, but despite his team plating 11 runs, he still said the offense has some work to do.

“Our bats weren’t really there, but our pitching was,” Flores said.

Porterville travels back to Corcoran at 7 p.m., Thursday to take on Exeter in the tourney semifinals.