Sportsworld alone in first

Tuesday night’s battle at Riddle Field between Majors Division

leaders Sportsworld and Rotary lived up to what a showdown should be,

and it was Sportsworld who prevailed, 6-5, in Laguna Beach Little

League action.

The win allowed Sportsworld to take sole possession of first place

in the division standings, with one regular season game remaining on

the schedule.

Rotary opened the game with two runs in the top of the first

inning, with Michael Hyden and Alec Loechner both scoring.

But Sportsworld came back with five runs of its own in the bottom

of the inning, to take a 5-2 lead.

Austin Paxson started the rally with a leadoff single. He was

followed by a walk to Stevie Contursi before Alex Iannotti drove in

Paxson with a long double into left field.

Taylor Preston got on base via a fielder’s choice and Drew Wheeler

came up with a bases-loaded single to score Contursi for the tie.

Additional walks by Zack Jaffe and Riley Lozano kept the inning

going, and Preston and Wheeler later went on to score.

Leading 5-3 heading into the bottom of the second, Sportsworld

scored again when Contursi singled home Brian Vail to make it 6-3.

It would turn out to be the final Sportsworld run -- and decisive

one in the game.

In the third inning, Rotary’s Shane Taykabayashi opened with a

hard single and two outs later, Brogan O’Bryan singled, but both

runners were stranded when Contursi struck out the next batter for

his third strikeout of the inning and eighth of the game.

Rotary staged another comeback in the top of the fifth, as Michael

Hyden and Alex Loechner both scored to make it a 6-5 game.

Rotary put the tying and go-ahead runs on base when Brogan O’Bryan

singled for his second hit of the game, and brother Bo followed with

a walk. Paxson then took the mound in a relief effort for

Sportsworld, and proceeded to record consecutive outs.

Down to its last out, Rotary’s Jake Glazer tapped a bunt with

runners on second and third, but he was called out for running inside

the base path on the ensuing throw to first base.

In other games:

Rotary 9, VFW 6

Rotary held on by withstanding a furious VFW comeback to claim

victory.

Rotary had opened up a 9-0 lead after two innings.

Alec Loechner led Rotary with a three-for-three night with a

double, two singles, an RBI and two runs scored.

Jake Glazer, Alek Burk, Michael Hyden and Tyler Kesler each

contributed two hits in three plate appearances, and singles by Ryan

Takabayashi and Brogan O’Bryan rounded out Rotary’s 13-hit attack.

After Shane Takabayashi pitched three scoreless innings and

allowed only infield hits to James Lavery and Grif Fair, VFW’s bats

came alive in the fourth inning.

Santi Pierini, Rex Strombotne and Tyler Pierce began the inning

with consecutive singles to load the bases. Two runs ended up coming

home on a Rotary error and a bases-loaded walk.

VFW scored twice more in the fifth when Derek Riegler singled and

scored on Pierini’s second hit of the game, and Pierce’s second

single plated Perini. It rallied one final time in the sixth, with

Matt Neev getting a single which started another two-run rally, but

Loechner came up with a nice defensive play to end the game.