Little League: Costa Mesa National gets it going

COSTA MESA - The Major Division’s Tigers of the Costa Mesa American

Little League opened the 2002 season with a wild 10-9 win over the Costa

Mesa National Marlins Saturday.

The Tigers, leading 7-3 after five innings, gave up six unearned runs

to surrender the lead to the Marlins. But the CMALL Tigers came back in

the bottom of the sixth with three runs to get the win.

The Tigers were led by Adam Gardner and Alex Moralez, who had three

hits each, while Cody Spoulos and Andrew Millian chipped in with two hits

and a walk each. Spoulos and Gardner also scored three times each, and

Moralez and Millian had four RBIs each to lead the Tigers to victory No.

1.

In other Costa Mesa National Little League action:

The Major Division’s Astros started their season with a bang,

defeating the Cardinals, 6-4. The Astros completed a solid game on

defense led by Bradley Fisher and Kevin Wright, who split the game behind

the plate catching. The Astros’ infield held off the Cardinals with

efforts from first baseman Brandon Esping, shortstop Gilbert Beas and

third baseman Kyle Lux.

Josh Ryding, Ricky Campo and Frank Denoewer shared the pitching

duties. Ryding started the game, completing two innings of no-hit, no-run

baseball, while Campo picked up the win, giving up two hits and striking

out three over two innings. Offensively, the Astros were powered by seven

hits, two coming at the hands of Esping and one each by Brad Fisher,

Taylor West, Blake Rowerdink, Campo and Denoewer.

For the Cardinals, Johnny Persons and Chris Falbo shared duty on the

mound. Wes Barloon scored two runs, while Garrick Williams, Eddie Tomasek

and Ryan Knapp each scored one run. William Evans made a standout

defensive play in center field to save a run.

The Diamondbacks cruised past the Dodgers, 14-1, in Major Division

action. The Diamondbacks scored all of their runs in a 33-minute first

inning and then the Dodgers settled down and held them scoreless the rest

of the way.

Brandon Maurer was one of the leaders for the Diamondbacks, collecting

two hits and three RBIs, while Chase Harrison, Troy McClanahan and Sean

Ulrich contributed one hit and one RBI each. Andrew Ayala smacked a

triple for the D’Backs and Ryan Redding also had a hit. Riley Hart, Gavin

Montague and Patrick McGuire added offense, scoring one run each. Hart,

Maurer, Redding, Ulrich, Joseph Dzida and Max Friedmann provided solid

defense to earn the win.

The Pirates and Rockies squared off in an opener in the Farm Division.

The Pirates started strong in the first two innings, scoring several

runs, while the Rockies responded in the third inning when they opened up

their offense. Matthew Spicer contributed two hits and two RBIs for the

Rockies, while teammate Erik Rasmussen punched out a double and scored

twice. Jesse Paz collected two doubles and two RBIs and he also made a

standout defensive play at second base to get a Pirate runner out. The

Rockies’ Robert Murtha also turned in solid play at shortstop and had two

hits and scored twice on offense. Aaron Wood reached base every time at

bat and he scored three runs for the Rockies, while Malia Murtha also

reached base on each at bat. Malia Murtha also had four RBIs, as did Adam

Ward. Andrea Hardwick and Noah Jeyarajah added a hit and scored a run

each. Alex Mazur, also known as, “Big Al,” chipped in a big hit and

provided encouragement, helping lead dugout cheers. Nathan Frank also

supported the Rockies, pounding out two hits and earning one RBI.

In Newport Harbor Baseball Association action: The Mustang Division’s

Dodgers opened their season with a 7-2 win over the Athletics at Kaiser

Elementary School Saturday. The Dodgers were led by Ryan Albert, who went

2 for 2 with two doubles and three RBIs.

Key Dodger hits were also provided by Austin Rios, John Caroompas,

Victor Done, Michael Salam and Fernando Guiterrez. The Dodgers received

standout overall play from Todd Bates, Nick Ditty, Craig Picetti, Zach

Porteous and Taylor Wildman. Albert, Rios and Done also led the Dodgers’

pitching efforts. The A’s pitching included solid performances by Spencer

Rautus, Bobby Okvist and Josh Jaye.