Little League: A Red Sox romp

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - It’s early in the season and teams from the Costa Mesa

American and National Little League are still learning about their own

players.

The American’s Red Sox, of the Majors Division, discovered this season

won’t be long after all. Meanwhile, the Dodgers, of the National League,

have learned they must improve their mental strength -- their coach, Mike

McDaniels said Saturday, “They played uninspired ball.”

Both teams are now 1-1 after the Red Sox reeled off an 11-1 victory

over the Dodgers at TeWinkle Intermediate School.

“Defense,” Red Sox Coach Dave Roum said of the main factor for his

team’s improvement. “We had outstanding defensive play.”

James Alfi, of the Red Sox, pitched through four innings, allowing

just one run when Justin Long smacked a hit for an RBI. Brian Sankey,

Parker Roth and Bryan Bennett also collected hits for the Dodgers.

“The season will only get better,” Coach McDaniels said. He also noted

the Dodgers played with just nine players because of injuries and other

engagements for the missing players.

The Red Sox took advantage and turned in a grand performance with some

hot bats.

Daniel Stelle went 3 for 4 with four RBIs, while Jonathan Olsen, Kory

Kough, James Alfi and Ted Lee earned one RBI each when the Red Sox

exploded for eight runs in the fourth inning.

“We weren’t nervous,” said Thomas Kosnosky who admitted the Red Sox

were overly anxious in their season-opening loss. “We were ready to win

(Saturday).”

Kosnosky, who played catcher and shortstop, threw out two runners when

he was behind the plate.

“We were pretty down about (our first loss),” Stelle said. “But, we

came back strong with this one.”

COSTA MESA AMERICAN LITTLE LEAGUE

Red Sox, Majors Division

24 James Alfi

23 Drew Bauer

2 Thomas Kosnosky

10 Kory Kough

42 Ted Lee

13 Jonathan Olsen

9 Chris Rigmaiden

44 C.J. Roum

12 Jake Schwartz 25 Daniel Stelle

48 Dylan Stiller

Coaches: Dave Roum, Joe Kosnosky and Dan Rigmaiden

COSTA MESA NATIONAL LITTLE LEAGUE

Dodgers, Majors Division

11 Cory Weikel

14 Ian Abernathy 20 Parker Roth

17 Brian Sankey

21 Brandon Grimmet

15 Justin Long

22 Bryan Bennett

13 Juan Guzman

12 Jesse Guevara 19 Mike McDaniels

16 Matt Jeranko

18 Steven Dean

Coaches: Chuck Grimmet and Mike McDaniels