Ocean View makes way to Western Regional tournament

Mike Sciacca, Independent

“I don’t want to make any predictions,” Yun Conger said, “but I

think this team has a really good chance to go far. That is, if it

continues to play good, team-oriented baseball.”

So said Conger, Ocean View Little League’s Majors Division All-Star

Manager, moments after his club defeated Westminster, 4-1, to wrap up the

District 62 Tournament championship last month. His team has done little

to prove their manager wrong, as Ocean View’s All-Stars have made their

way to the Western Regional Championships in San Bernardino.

With Williamsport, Pa. (site of the World Series) clearly in site,

Ocean View began its quest Wednesday to reach Little League Baseball’s

promised land by taking on Laramie Little League (Wyoming State champion)

in its tournament opener.

Ocean View reserved a spot in the Western Regionals last Friday by

blanking East Yorba Linda, 2-0, to win the Southern California Little

League championship. Yun Conger’s son, Hank, was the key figure in the

win. The big, right-hander went the distance to pick up the pitching win,

striking out 15 to all but keep East Yorba Linda off the base paths.

The Ocean View offense backed Conger by scoring single runs in both

the second and third innings, then made them stand.

Trey Valbuena set things in motion with a single, and later reached

third base on a passed ball. Jeff Mollica then produced the first run

when his grounder scored Valbuena for a 1-0 lead.

In the third inning Conger scored on Tomas Yoo’s single to right

field.

In postseason play, Ocean View’s Majors All-Star team won eight

consecutive games en route to winning both the District 62 and Section 4

tournament championships. They won their first two games at the Southern

California Division 3 tournament to run the streak to 10, before East

Yorba Linda snapped the streak with a 7-1 victory.

However, Ocean View bounced back edge Parkview (Lancaster), 5-4, then

held off East Yorba Linda, 3-2, to set up a winner-takes-all meeting

between the two teams.

The Western Regional consists of 14 teams from the 13 western states,

as well as two California champions (Northern and Southern).

The Western Regional winner will advance to Williamsport, Pa. for the

Little League World Series.

Ocean View Little League’s Majors Division team is comprised of Yun

and Hank Conger, Valbuena, Mollica, Yoo, Greg Gonzalez, David Jacobs,

Eric Jaso, James Kang, Scott Melchert, Chris Palmer, Jeff Van Doornum,

Dallas Walters, and coaches Brian Carr and Randy Melchert.