The Sierra Foothills Little League Braves capped a fine showing at the recent District 11 Little League Tournament of Champions by posting a 2-1 record and reaching the semi-final round of Area II action.

The Braves, the champions of the SFLL major division regular season, pulled off one of the biggest comeback wins in the tournament by pulling out a nail-biting 13-10 seven-inning win over the Grass Valley Orioles last Wedensday in a quarter-final round game.

For the Braves, it was a long haul to overtake the Orioles as they had to wipe out a 9-5 deficit with a big four-run rally in the top of the sixth to force the game into extra innings.

Once in extra frames, the Braves used a bases-loaded double and eventual two base error that enabled Ryan Hallman to come all the way around the bags and score for a 13-9 advantage.

The Orioles then made things interesting in the home half of the seventh when they pushed over a run to cut the deficit to 13-10 and also loaded the bases. However, the Braves ended the game with a called strikeout to preserve the win.

Hallman also added a home run for the Braves while Alex Tobiasz turned in a strong mound effort.

The win by the Braves then moved the Colfax-Meadow Vista based squad into the semi-finals where the locals dropped a close, 4-3, contest to the Bear River Diamondbacks.

The Braves tried another one of their patented comebacks but fell short when they loaded the bases in the last inning but had a ground out to end the contest.

The Bear River Astros ended up defeating the Bear River Diamondbacks, 11-1, to win the Area II title and then swept the Tri-City Cardinals from Rocklin to capture the District TOC title.