Ocean View rules District 62

A victory lap around LeBard Park was warranted after Ocean View Little League defeated Costa Mesa National, 5-2, to claim the District 62 All-Star Majors title Monday night.

A few minutes later after his team hoisted and waved the championship banner for supporters, Coach Richard Lopez put into words what led to the locals taking the winning spin around the field.

“We never gave up,” he said. “We came out very tense and uncharacteristically made two or three errors in those first innings. But our kids settled down, and I was really happy with how they finished the game.”

By overcoming a 2-0 deficit to score the final five runs of the game, Ocean View advanced to the Section 10 tournament that begins Saturday.

Ocean View will take on District 68 (Mission Viejo) in a 10 a.m. start. Seaview also is hosting the Section 10 event at LeBard Park.

“We got things out of our system after that first inning, stayed together and kept pressing until the end,” Lopez said. “We beat a very good Costa Mesa team.”

It appeared that Costa Mesa National could take control of the game early, as the league fought to win its first District 62 All-Star tournament title.

But Ocean View had other ideas and went on to capture its first district title in the division since 2000.

The Ocean View comeback began in the top of the second inning. Dylan Andersen, batting in the No. 9 slot, delivered a one-out, run-scoring single to score Brandon Williams, who started the inning with a double. Matt Mulholland, pinch running for Andrew Arledge after a walk, would later score the tying run on a wild pitch. Ocean View took the lead for good when with two out, Ben Drolet, sent a full-count pitch up the gap toward the fence in left field. The hit brought home Andersen and gave Ocean View a 3-2 lead.

From that point on, Costa Mesa National never threatened offensively. Drolet, who settled down after the first inning, contained Costa Mesa National and allowed just two hits over the final five innings. Ocean View’s defense didn’t allow a runner past second base after the first inning.

“I was confident going into the game but lost a little bit of that confidence in that first inning,” said Drolet, a hard, right-handed thrower. “After that first inning, I realized that I didn’t need to strike out everybody, just throw effectively and my defense would do the rest. They were great out there.”

Drolet did end the game on a strikeout, sending Matt Jarmacz, who threw five-plus innings for Costa Mesa National, to the bench for the final out.

A key turn for Ocean View took place in the fifth inning. Max Gibbs opened with a single and then Mulholland, in his only at-bat of the game, delivered a sacrifice fly down the right-field line to bring home Gibbs for a 4-2 lead.

“That was an instrumental sequence for us,” Lopez said. “We just played fundamental baseball and were able to squeeze out another run right there.

“I also thought when Matt (Mulholland) scored on that passed ball in the second inning, that play seemed to revitalize our kids.”

Ocean View scored an insurance run in the top of the sixth when clean-up hitter Marcus Mayorga drilled the first pitch up the middle to score Robert Baker.

The Ocean View Little League (12-year-old) All-Star team is: Dylan Andersen, Andrew Arledge, Robert Baker, Jake Bauers, Jake Bryant, Tristan Chester, Ben Drolet, Brandon Fields, Max Gibbs, Zac Lopez, Marcus Mayorga, Matthew Mulholland, Brandon Williams, Coach Richard Lopez and assistants Phil Mayorga and Matt Arledge.

Ocean View wins 9-10 All-Star banner

On the adjacent field to the Majors diamond at LeBard Park on Monday, Ocean View’s 9- and-10-year-old All-Star team completed an impressive undefeated tournament run to the district title by defeating Huntington Valley, 8-4.

Steven Gingery pitched a strong 5 1/3 innings for Ocean View and set the tone for the game by “throwing better than I have seen him throw all year,” Ocean View Coach Sean Pouelsen said.

“He definitely brought his A game on Monday. Backed by timely hits by Nick Pratto and solid defense by Chad Minato and the rest of the team helped us win another banner for Ocean View.

Luke Williams and Calvin Cruz had strong at-bats in the top of the sixth to set up a three-run home run by Logan Pouelsen.

Michael Gates and Hagen Danner closed out the last part of the game for Ocean View.

“Huntington Valley was definitely the best team we played in the tournament and made our team earn every run we got,” said Sean Pouelsen, whose team will open play at the Section tournament at 10 a.m. Saturday against the District 55 champion. The game will be played Youth Athletic Park in Mission Viejo.

The Ocean View 9-10 All-Star team is: Chad Minato, Hagen Danner, Logan Pouelsen, Steven Gingery, Nick Pratto, Hunter Simmons, Michael Green, Luke Williams, Brian Rousseau, Calvin Cruz, Michael Gates, Andres Galarza, Matthew Rolfes, Coach Sean Pouelsen and assistants Andy Williams and Bjorn Green.

10/11 tourney comes down to if-necessary game

Huntington Valley prevented Ocean View from making a clean run through the District 62 tournament by posting a 5-4 victory Tuesday at the Westminster Little League fields.

The outcome left both teams with one loss in the tournament. The teams played for the district championship Wednesday night, but the score wasn’t available at press time.

Huntington Valley also avenged a 19-3 defeat it had suffered to Ocean View on June 29.

Coming into Tuesday’s game, Ocean View had outscored its three previous tourney opponents, 43-4.

The winner of Wednesday’s game advances to Section tournament play Saturday in Garden Grove.

Seaview takes Junior League All-Star title

Going on the offensive in the tournament, Seaview capped an undefeated tournament run Monday at the Westminster Little League fields by defeating Robinwood for the second time in the event, this time by a 4-2 score to secure the Juniors district banner.

Seaview’s offense racked up 42 runs in four tournament games. It began the tournament June 28 with a 22-0 wipe out of Fountain Valley, followed by a 10-4 win over host Westminster on June 29.

Seaview then handed Robinwood its first tourney defeat, 6-3, July 1 to emerge as the league’s lone undefeated team and move on to the championship series.

Seaview begins Section tournament play Saturday.

The Seaview Junior League All-Stars are: Conner Ahern, Max Meyer, John Benvenutti, Kyle Curtis, Erik McCoy, Jacob Rushing, Troy Baljeu, Adam Munoz, Brendan Hartjoy, Lane Hepburn, Aaron Rakhshani, Shaun Thompson and Blake Workman.