Brewers battle Reds

Mike Sciacca, Independent

Two talented Majors Division teams which figured to go far in the

District 62 Tournament of Champions have done just that as Robinwood and

Ocean View both advanced with victories Monday night.

Robinwood No. 1 defeated Ocean View No. 2, 5-1, and Ocean View No. 1

squeezed past Westminster No. 1, 1-0, to set up a title showdown for the

district banner Wednesday at Ocean View.

Pitching paved the way for Robinwood in its semifinal meeting with Ocean

View No. 2 as Casey Becker set the tone early and reliever Scott Schauer

closed out the triumph.

Becker was nearly untouchable as he struck out eight of the nine batters

- including the final six - in three innings.

The other half of the Brewers’ pitching tandem, Schauer, struck out six

and walked one.

The duo had a potential no-hitter broken up in the bottom of the sixth

inning when Ocean View leadoff hitter Justin Chambers singled.

The Cardinals avoided the shutout when Chambers scored on Nick Mendoza’s

infield groundout.

It was the first earned run given up in three postseason games by

Robinwood, which also defeated the Seaview Angels, 3-1, and the

Huntington Valley Angels, 7-2.

Chambers also pitched well in relief for Ocean View. He faced 15 batters

in three innings, striking out eight while walking three and giving up

two runs on three hits.

He was relieved by Chris Palmer, whose nice effort included striking out

six of the eight he faced.

Palmer also gave up a run in the top of the sixth when Becker hit a

one-out double and scored on a passed ball.

“I thought Casey had a great game,” Robinwood Manager Randy Schauer said

of Becker, who led all hitters with four hits. “He had a great hitting

day and pitched an outstanding game. He put us in control early.”

With Becker in command on the mound, Robinwood’s offense gave the big

right-hander the breathing room he needed.

Becker opened the game with a single, was followed by a Schauer single,

and then Daniel Jones put Robinwood on the scoreboard with an RBI single.

One out later, Jaime Swain singled up the middle to score Schauer.

The lead grew to 4-0 in the third inning when the Brewers (19-4) loaded

the bases with two out on a Swain single and successive walks to Josh

Votaw and Alex Zadro. That set the stage for Damon Bressler, who laced a

two-run single.

“I told the kids that they have done an outstanding job to reach the

championship game,” Randy Schauer said. “I’m very proud of them and they

deserve a big round of applause.”

In the other semifinal game:

Ocean View 1, Westminster 0 In a battle between champions from their respective leagues, the only run

was scored in the first, when the Reds’ Hank Conger led off with a homer.

Conger, who also doubled, had three of Ocean View’s four hits. He also

pitched the final three innings in relief of winning pitcher Jeff Van

Doornum. The twosome limited Westminster to just three hits.