Little League baseball: NBLL drops opener

Barry Faulkner

MISSION VIEJO - As consolation prizes go, a Little League baseball

player could do a lot worse than a free pizza.

Newport Beach National Major Division All-Star Ryan Telles earned his

postgame pepperoni, a gift provided by a tournament administrator, with a

three-run homer that helped Newport cut into a 6-0 deficit and make a

game of what turned into a 14-5 victory for Laguna Niguel Saturday in the

opening round of the District 55 All-Star Tournament at Youth Sports

Park.

The rest of the 11- and 12-year-old All-Stars will have to settle for

a spot in the second-chance bracket, where they will try to avoid an

elimination loss, beginning Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

“That’s his first home run of the year,” Newport Beach Manager Chris

Telles said of his son, whose third-inning clout cleared the

center-field fence to initiate a five-run rally.

Ryan Telles’ homer followed a single by Wyatt Cole and a walk to

William O’Brien.

After Telles circled the bases, Sam Stafford, Scott Colton and

Geoffrey Grant all singled to load the bases. Connor Whalen and Kelsey

Chase followed with RBI walks to close the gap to 6-5, before Laguna

Niguel reliever Andrew Melkonian retired the next three hitters to

protect the lead.

Laguna Niguel wasted little time building the cushion back up, as Matt

Vaught belted a three-run dinger in the home half of the third.

It was the second home run of the day for Laguna Niguel, which, after

scoring twice in the first inning, benefited from a mammoth Melkonian

grand slam in the second.

Laguna Niguel scored in every inning en route to collecting 17 hits

and did not commit and error.

The strong play of the opponent was a major point of emphasis for

Chris Telles, as he encouraged his kids after the game to feel good about

their effort.

“There is nothing to hang our heads about,” the elder Telles said.

“I’m not sure there was anything more we could have done. We know we can

hit the ball, we just didn’t do that in bunches today.”

Newport did manage nine hits against two Laguna Niguel pitchers, as

seven starters produced at least one hit. Cole, hitting leadoff, had a

pair of hits, as did Telles. Cole also came up with a tumbling catch in

short center field, retreating to backhand a would-be base hit for the

second out in the second inning.

“We played good defense,” Chris Telles said, and only one error backed

up his assessment.

Alan Hardison and Tyler Brady added hits for Newport Beach, which now

faces an uphill battle after using three pitchers. Tournament rules

stipulate any pitcher who throws more than one inning may not pitch at

all in his team’s next game. Two Newport hurlers worked more than one

inning, so Chris Telles will be forced to delve deeper into his rotation

Thursday.

“Using three guys today wasn’t our plan,” Telles said. “That’s just

the way it worked out.”

Solid defense by Laguna Niguel helped its pitchers work out of several

potential scoring situations, as Newport Beach stranded eight base

runners, including at least one in the first five innings.

Newport Beach, however, never quit battling, as the fifth inning

illustrated.

Laguna Niguel scored two runs with one out, then plated another on a

sacrifice fly for the second out, coming within one run of ending the

contest on the 10-run mercy rule. But, with a runner at third, O’Brien

struck out Jeff Turzo to end the inning and allow Newport its final

at-bat.

In addition to Cole’s defensive gem, shortstop Stafford and catcher

Telles combined to help limit a Laguna Niguel threat in the fourth.

With runners at the corners, the Laguna Niguel coaches called for a

double steal. The runner at first broke and drew a throw to second from

Telles. But, per the predetermined plan, Stafford broke in front of the

bag toward the plate, cut off the throw and returned a strike to Telles

at the plate. Telles caught the ball above his shoulders and slapped the

tag downward, nailing the runner on top of the helmet for a well-executed

out.