Lee comes up big

CORONA DEL MAR — How do you explain reaching base 26 straight times and a 15-game winning streak?

JB Lee of the National League Cardinals has the answer because he was a part of both.

“We kept on doing it, doing it, doing, doing it, doing it, doing it and doing it,” said Lee before getting his tongue tied. “Then we made it to the championship, and that’s cool.”

Pretty chill.

Lee’s done it before under pressure, so there’s need for him to get too excited.

When the Cardinals are winning games in the Newport Beach Little League, he says he’s calm. When they’re losing, he’s stressed. His teammate Teddy Somekh said so, Lee on the other hand shook his head when he heard that.

So what did Lee do with the Triple A championship tied in the bottom of the fourth? He got on base. What else did you expect?

Lee ripped a double to drive in the go-ahead run as the Cardinals beat the American League Rangers, 4-2, to win the title Saturday at Lincoln Elementary.

Cardinals Coach Duane Hastings eyes were bulging out in disbelief. But he knew it was coming. Perfect timing because he now has won championships in Double A, Triple A and Majors.

The triple crown of sorts at NBLL. More impressive has been Lee’s bat.

“As close as you can get to perfection,” Hastings said. “I knew with our big three that one of those three was going to come through. They’ve done it all year long. They kind of rotate.”

Out of the Cardinals big three, Ryan Maister, Patrick Standel and Lee, the last one has stood out at the plate during a 19-1 season.

Hastings said during the team’s winning streak the first baseman went 15 for 15 and was walked eight times.

“He was hit by a pitch twice,” Hastings said.

See, Lee always has the big hits.

But it was the Rangers (14-6) jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.

Panic? Well, Lee figured this one would be easy, like the time he said the Cardinals mercy-ruled the Rangers during the season. But he was like, “Heck, what happened?”

That’s until Somekh spoke up.

“Sometimes when that happens I go over and just say, ‘Just play hard pass,’” Somekh said. “Sometimes you guys turn your head and listen, sometime you guys just don’t care.”

The Cardinals cared. The last time they lost was to the Astros, a 9-7 defeat where Hastings said two of his runners were thrown at the plate.

“It was one of those games,” he said.

This game against the Rangers would turn out to be another nail-biter before both qualified for the District 55 Tournament of Champions event.

Both starters, Will Hinkleman for the Rangers and Maister for the Cardinals handcuffed batters during their three and 3 1/3 innings of work. Hinkleman struck out seven and Maister nine.

Hinkleman was making his second straight championship appearance, along with two teammates, but for the rest it was a learning experience.

The new group couldn’t muster much against reliever Standel, who pitched the final 2 2/3 innings. He mowed down four batters, and when he ran into trouble in the fifth with runners in scoring position, third baseman Connor Hayes snagged a liner going toward the third-base line to end the threat.

“It was a complete new experience, a great experience, and it couldn’t be more fun,” Rangers Coach Darrin Fryer said.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].