Ocean View Little League All-Star team rolls along

Mike Sciacca

The Ocean View Little League 9/10 All-Star team continued its torrid

pace in postseason play by opening the Section 5 tournament at the

Lakeside Athletic Facility in Santa Fe Springs with two convincing

victories.

Ocean View, representing District 62, opened the tournament Friday

with a 20-1 rout of District 46 champion Loara of Anaheim in a game

called after four innings.

Ocean View followed with a 9-7 triumph over District 29 winner

Cypress.

In Section 5 Majors All-Star tournament play, District 62 champion

Robinwood dropped its first two games and was eliminated from the

double-elimination event.

9/10 Division

Ocean View 20, Loara 1

Ocean View pounded out 15 hits in just four innings to record the

mercy rule win.

Ocean View scored three runs in the first inning, four in the

second and 13 in the third inning to put the game away.

The highlight of the game was a grand slam hit by Casey Hayes,

which was his third home run in tournament play. It came during the

third inning when Ocean View batted around.

Getting multiple hits for Ocean View were Hayes, who went two for

four with five RBI; Jake Arledge, who went three for three and scored

four runs; Grant Mayeaux, who went two for four with a pair of RBI;

and Jacob Caron, who went two for three with two RBI.

Also contributing to the 14-hit total were Tyler Mildenberg,

Zachary Gates, Dane Perkins, Wyatt Albert and Chris Smith.

Mildenberg, Perkins and Ben Drolet combined on the mound to limit

Loara to one run on four hits.

“We could not have played much better than what you saw out here

tonight,” Ocean View manager Gorden Gates said. “Great hitting,

fielding, base running and solid pitching resulted in the victory.”

“Loara is a very good team, but they ran into a team that was

firing on all pistons tonight.”

Ocean View 9, Cypress 7

Ocean View went 2-0 at the Section 5 tournament by defeating

Cypress on Saturday.

The scoring began in the first inning, when Tyler Mildenberg

scored on a wild pitch. Grant Mayeaux added an RBI single later in

the inning.

Wyatt Albert doubled in Hayes and Mayeaux to cap off the four-run

outburst.

But Cypress came right back in its first at-bat, pairing two walks

with two hits and an error to score three runs off Gates.

Jake Arledge got his second hit of the game in the top of the

second when he doubled to the right field gap, moved to third on a

sacrifice fly by Mildenberg, and scored when Zachary Gates hit an RBI

single to left field.

Gates pitched three strong innings and struck out seven, giving up

three hits.

In the top of the fourth, Mildenberg hit a solo home run to

centerfield to put Ocean View on top, 6-3.

Cypress battled back in the bottom of the fourth, tying the score

by scoring three runs on four hits off Max Gibbs. The defensive play

of the inning was turned in by right-fielder Chris Smith, who fielded

a Cypress single and threw out the potential go-ahead run.

That play proved pivotal, as Ocean View regained the lead in the

top of the fifth when Hayes and Mayeaux hit back-to-back singles.

After a passed ball put runners on second and third, Dane Perkins got

the RBI on a ground out to put Ocean View ahead, 7-6.

Cypress proved relentless again by tying up the score in the

bottom of the fifth. They had a chance to go ahead, but Ocean View’s

Ben Drolet made an over-the-shoulder running catch of a towering

drive to deep center to take away an extra base hit.

Drolet also figured in Ocean View’s final offensive rally of the

game, drawing a leadoff walk in the top of the sixth. He advanced to

second on a wild pitch, then scored on Mildenberg’s single to right

field.

Hayes then stroked a double to drive in Mildenberg, giving Ocean

View a two-run cushion, 9-7.

Hayes pitched the final two innings and gave up one run on three

hits. He struck out the final batter to end the game.

“This was a great game to watch from a fan’s perspective, as both

teams battled back and forth,” said Gordon Gates, whose club advanced

to the semifinals to face Tijera Creek. “Cypress came out and played

a great game and could easily have won this one, too.”Gates was quick

to laud the play of his defense.

“It’s easy to go through the entire lineup and tell you how each

kid contributed to tonight’s win and our hitting continues to be

stellar,” he said. “However, let’s talk about two key plays in the

game tonight that I believe went a long way to determining the

outcome.

“First, Drolet’s catch out in centerfield has to be one of the

best catches I’ve ever seen. We joke around with the kids at practice

when they make a great play about being on the ESPN highlight reel

for “Plays of the Day.” Well, that catch was one of them. After the

game the Cypress coach asked me if he could meet the kid that made

‘the catch.’

“The second play was Smith’s throw to the plate.” He did the same

thing in a game against Robinwood in the District 62 tournament,

except that one he threw the runner out from left field. You talk

about these types of plays in practice and to see them executed, even

in All-Star play, leaves you shaking your head.”

Majors Division

Robinwood’s magical postseason run came to a halt at the Section 5

tournament in Tustin with consecutive losses to South Mission Viejo,

7-4, and North Sunrise of Orange, 10-7.

Robinwood spotted South Mission Viejo a six-run lead after the top

of the first inning, and managed to cut the deficit to 6-3, but could

get no closer. Brett Morinaka hit a home run to give Robinwood its

first run.

Against North Sunrise, Robinwood actually held a 7-2 lead heading

into the fifth inning. North Sunrise scored three runs to narrow the

gap to 7-5, then won the game in the sixth by scoring five runs,

highlighted by a grand slam.

Joey Wagner went three for three with five RBI, and Nick Marshall

pitched a solid five innings before Mitch Huffman pitched the sixth.

Robinwood had won the District 62 title for just the fourth time

in the league’s 42-year history, and had not won a Section 5 game in

six previous attempts.

“Our goal was to win that first Section game for the league,”

Robinwood manager Rob Huffman said. “We came up short, but what a

fantastic run this team had.”

The Robinwood All-Star team is composed of Morinaka, Wagner,

Marshall, Huffman, Alec Fuller, Chris Schaaf, Mike Clayton, Kevin

Graham, Chris Martinez, Dusty Mouradian, Chris Rossi, Harley Shoffner

and coaches Bob Marshall and Phil Schaaf.