Little League: Reds gaining heat for playoffs

Steve Virgen

NEWPORT BEACH - With the playoffs just around the corner, the Reds

are picking a good time to get red-hot in the Majors Division of the

Newport Beach Little League. The Reds grabbed a full head of steam when

they seized opportunities and received a remarkable pitching performance

from Jake Lemmerman, leading to a 4-2 victory over the Red Sox Saturday,

at Lincoln Elementary.

“The team is gaining momentum into the playoffs,” Reds Manager Allen

Lemmerman said of his squad which in first place in the American division

at 10-6. “Our kids were aggressive at the plate. Generally, we had good

pitching in the game.”

“Good” would probably be an understatement. Brett Bartlett pitched a

perfect second inning after allowing one run in the first. He induced

three straight groundouts, the latter two he scooped and threw to first.

Brian Burke worked one inning as he struck out one, allowed a hit and a

run.

Jake Lemmerman then came on, perhaps literally, when he struck out the

first four batters he faced, using 18 pitches. He then walked two

batters, but Burke came up with the defensive play of the day. Playing

shortstop, he fielded a grounder tagged the runner advancing to third and

sprinted to tag second base for a double play to end the fifth inning.

Jake Lemmerman closed out the game with three straight strikeouts,

this time using 17 pitches.

“He mixed up his pitches real well,” Red Sox Manager Ralph Dion said

of Jake Lemmerman. “We made (two) errors in the (second inning) and gave

up three runs. But they played strong defense.”

The Red Sox (8-8) gave up an unearned run in the first inning, but

answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the opening frame.

Grant Gerdau pounded a base hit to right field which scored Michael Ford,

who singled.

The Reds, however, retaliated with three runs in the second inning.

With two outs, the Reds took advantage of Red Sox miscues. Tyler Ellis

reached on an error and Andrew Silva walked. Jake Lemmerman hit them both

in with a shot past second base. He later scored when an error in the

outfield put Blaine Nielsen on base.

The Red Sox tallied a run in the third as J.R. Dion earned an RBI,

scoring Ford who reached on a fielder’s choice. The Red Sox also turned

in some strong pitching. Ford pitched a perfect third and Dion threw

three innings worth of scoreless ball. Dion had three strikeouts, no

walks and allowed two hits in his 40-pitch performance.

NEWPORT BEACH LITTLE LEAGUE

Majors Division

American Division

The Reds

6 Tyler Ellis

11 Andrew Silva

21 Jake Lemmerman 18 Blaine Nielsen

36 Brett Bartlett

00 Brian Burke

13 Ryan Kent

15 Eric Mooney

3 Troy Hall

1 Ryan Lanni

17 Jonathan Gormly

99 Tony Coco

Manager: Allen Lemmerman

Coaches: Fred Silva and Dave Nielsen

The Red Sox

17 Alex Matthews 14 Steven Hilgren

12 Tim Leber

11 Jordan Goulding

4 Kevin Holland

24 Michael Ford

37 J.R. Dion

5 Grant Gerdau

23 Drew Brahs

22 Reagan Riley

7 Jacob Goulding

19 Kai Youngman

Manager: Ralph Dion

Coaches: Dan Ford and Ken Gerdau