LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL: Encino, Woodland Hills compete for District 40 championship

It's been at least 30 years since Encino Little League has advanced past the District 40 tournament, but the 11- and 12-year-olds have a great shot this time around.

All they have to do is defeat Granada Hills today at 5 p.m. at Woodland Hills-Sunrise. If Encino (3-0) loses, then the teams play again Thursday at 5 p.m. at the same site in the final game of the double-elimination tournament.

Encino is averaging 10.6 runs a game. Since a first-round loss to Sherman Oaks, Granada Hills (5-1) has won five in a row by a combined score of 84-4.

The big surprise was Northridge going three-and-out, including a first-round loss. That hasn't happened in god knows how long, as Northridge has been the area's most consistently successful program through the years, including advancing to the World Series championship final 1975 in Williamsport, Pa.

Granada Hills is the area's only local Little League team to win the World Series in 1963.

The District 40 winner advances to the Section 2 tournament in Glendale beginning on Saturday.

-- Gerry Gittelson