Newport Beach Little League: Dodgers finish on top

Steve Virgen

NEWPORT BEACH - The Dodgers and Mariners, of the Newport Beach

Little League’s Triple-A, showed what true championship games are made of

Wednesday at Lincoln Elementary.

The No. 2 ranked team during the regular season defeated the No. 1

Mariners as those Dodgers answered a 3-1 deficit with a five-run fourth

inning, came up with some clutch hits in the final frame and held off an

M’s surge.

“We truly had everyone contribute,” said Dodgers’ Coach Jeff Bloom.

“All up and down the lineup, everyone did their part and that’s makes

this a nice team win.”

Protecting an 8-4 lead, the Dodgers’ defense saved their best work for

the the Mariners’ last at-bat. After the Mariners scored two runs with no

outs, Dodgers’ pitcher John Doering led his team to victory as he induced

two straight groundouts and then struck out the next batter, ending the

game.

The Dodgers (17-4-1) had turned the tide in the fourth inning. With

one out and the bases loaded, redemption came for pitcher Michael Bloom,

who had allowed two unearned runs in the previous inning.

Michael Bloom slammed a shot to right field for a bases-clearing

triple, swinging the momentum to his team. Dodgers’ catcher Grant Johnson

singled to reach and later scored by using his speed and smarts to catch

the Mariners off guard with his base-running.

The Dodgers finished with five hits as Doering, Michael Bloom, Johnson

and Michael Artenian collected one hit each and scored one run each. Reed

Zachman came up with a huge hit when he earned two RBIs in the sixth

inning, which proved to be the difference in the game.

But, the Mariners did not give up. They battled in their last at-bat.

Michelle Zucker and Sean Tokuyama scored the final runs for the

Mariners as they were both walked and used some fine base-running to

reach home. Kirk MacDonald grounded out to bring in Tokuyama.

“We had a marvelous season,” M’s Coach Jay Palchikoff said. “Every

single kid had a great attitude.”

The championship game also featured solid pitching from both squads.

Michael Bloom and Doering were on the hill for the Dodgers. Michael Bloom

struck out four, walked one and allowed three hits in four innings of

work, while Doering didn’t allow a hit and fanned two in two innings.

For the Mariners, Hunter Alder went four innings, striking out eight,

including four straight which featured a perfect third inning. Zucker

pitched the last two innings and completed a perfect fifth and struck out

two.Both teams earned bids to play in the Tournament of Champions

Saturday.

The Dodgers start at Viejo Little League’s Gilleran Park at 5 p.m. The

Mariners are at the Youth Sports Park in South Mission Viejo, at 1 p.m.

Newport Beach Little League

AAA Championship

Dodgers

5 Reed Zachman

2 John Doering

15 Michael Bloom 12 Noah Molnar

31 Grant Johnson

99 Russel Goldberg

21 Dylan Norton

7 Gavin Koontz

9 Travis Jones

6 Bradley Jones

10 Michael Artenian

11 J.P. Fleming

Coach: Jeff Bloom

Mariners

8 Sean Tokuyama

14 Tommy Colton

5 Hunter Alder

24 Kirk MacDonald

12 Ryan Gladych

31 Zak Maurer-Erickson

7 Eric Hansen

42 Cory MacDonald

3 Anna Palchikoff

77 Philip Patterson

27 Michelle Zucker

Coach: Jay Palchikoff