A nine-run fourth inning pushed Roseville West to an early finish Wednesday night as the league’s 9/10 all-stars knocked off Maidu 14-3 in the District 54 Little League tournament at Mann Park in Folsom.

Backing the combined pitching of Tommy Edwards, Cory Nuss and Sean Granucci, Roseville West exploded in the fourth to end the game by way of the 10-run mercy rule after leading just 5-3 after Maidu tallied three times in the home half of the third.

The win makes Roseville West a perfect 3-0 in Pool A and advances the team to the six-team double-elimination finals next week.

“We wanted to keep our four primary pitchers (Cameron Anderson, Dalton Heryford, Edwards, and Nick Paleny) eligible (for the first game in the next round)”, said Roseville West manager Kevin Anderson. “Cory Nuss and nine-year-old Sean Granucci did a great job of coming in and eating up innings. Cory came through for us. He came on in the second and held things together until the bats came alive. Sean closed things out with a very efficient final inning.”

Parker Crews had ¾ of the cycle for Roseville West, as he doubled to open the first, tripled to begin the third and singled in the huge fourth.

“Parker Crews really stepped it up and hit the ball well,” Anderson said. “With his speed and base running ability, it is very important to our offense to have him on base.”

West posted a pair of runs in the opening inning, as Crews’ two-bagger was followed by a single from Edwards and an infield single by catcher Dylan Chapa.

The club added three in the third, but it could have been an even bigger inning. Crews tripled to start the uprising, and then scored on an infield single by Jay Razzano, who stole second base, but was cut down trying to score on a base hit by Nuss. Maidu left fielder Josh Bamford was on target with a strong toss to catcher David Trujillo to record that out.

Maidu hung with West largely on the back of its starting pitcher, Paul Gershon, who held a powerful lineup in check until he tired with one out in the fourth. Some sloppy defense behind him did not help much either.

“We wanted to see how the kids would react to being in a close game,” Anderson said. “The kids responded well with a big fourth inning. Maidu was very well coached and their pitcher did a good job until he wore down a little bit in the last inning.”

Gershon also delivered a big two-run double in the Maidu third, scoring Trujillo, who had singled to open the inning and Justin Salisbury, who reached on an error. After a hit batter and a Zachary Phillips base hit jammed the bags, Cameron Monsour drew a free pass to force in the third run of the inning and pull Maidu within a two at 5-3. Trujillo had two hits in the game for Maidu.

Roseville West then erupted with the nine-run fourth to put the game on ice. Walks and Maidu miscues played a big role in the scoring, but hits by Crews, Nuss and Heryford prepared the way for the two big hits that sealed the deal – a ground-rule double by Paleny and then a laser double that hit a foot from the top of the fence off the bat of Cameron Anderson. Blake Pifer singled in the ninth run of the frame.

The loss likely ends Maidu’s all-star run, as the team would need Divide to upset Snowline in a game that will be played tonight, and then would need to win a runs-allowed tiebreaker against those two teams to take the second spot out of Pool A.

Woodcreek and Lakeside have already claimed the two spots in the six-team double-elimination finals from Pool B, so they will join Roseville West in that race for the district title.

The six advancing teams will draw for positions in the finals bracket on Sunday night, and play begins Monday at Folsom’s Mann Park.