Newport Beach Little League: Reds outlast Cardinals in eight, 12-9

The Newport Beach Little League Reds experienced opposite ends of

the spectrum with an extra-inning victory and a shutout win last week, in

Majors Division action.

After eight innings, the Reds overcame the Cardinals, 12-9, and then

later in the week, the Reds extended their winning streak to four with a

7-0 victory over the Giants.

The Reds’ sluggers Timmy Winning and Blaine Neilsen combined for eight

hits, including three doubles and seven RBIs in the win over the

Cardinals.

In the top of the eighth, the Reds notched three runs on hits from Joe

Frey, Winning and an RBI double from Neilsen. Reds’ closer Brett

Bartlett, who pitched 2 1/3 innings of relief, shut out the Cardinals in

the bottom of the eighth to pick up the win, which put the Reds (7-3) in

first place in the American Division.

For the Cardinals, Michael Bloom, Aaron Northcraft, Brett Hanrahan and

Andrew Sorensen collected hits to stage a four-run rally in the sixth,

sending the game into extra innings.

The Reds’ pitcher Andrew Silva completed a standout pitching

performance, striking out five, while scattering two hits and five

scoreless innings.

Neilsen crushed an RBI double in the bottom of the third. In the

fourth, J.P. Gormly also had and RBI double.

Winning pounded out a three-run double in the fifth to score Sean

Tokuyama, Silva and Neilsen, who all got on board with walks.

In NBLL AA Division action:

Diamondbacks 13, Angels 12 - Austin Blodgett belted a home run and a

double, while Michael Taormina produced a triple and Nathan Wagner

provided three doubles to lead the Diamondbacks to victory. Wagner also

pitched well for the D-Backs, allowing one run in two innings.

Diamondbacks 13, Yankees 5 - The Diamondbacks’ offense included timely

hitting from Sandon Griffin, Sam Cubeiro and Blodgett. Brandon Pick

pitched two solid scoreless innings, while striking out six.

Red Sox 8, Cardinals 7 - The Red Sox scored the winning run in the

bottom of the final inning to edge the Cardinals. Taylor Epp, Brent

Lawson and Jonathan Metcalf led the Red Sox attack, while Matt Berry and

Clark Cashion contributed solid pitching performances.

The Cardinals were led by T.J. Danner, Max Carpenter and Jimmy Roney.

Mariners 11, Braves 11 - Andrew McCormick pounded out a grand slam in

the first inning to lead the Mariners, while Ben Griener tagged a

three-run home run to help the Mariners tie the Braves.

Grant Davis pitched three solid innings, struck out six and shut down

the Braves to preserve the tie for the Mariners.

In NBLL AAA action:

Red Sox 4, Giants 1 - With the score tied, 1-1, in the top of the

sixth, Red Sox slugger Brent Gray chipped a base hit and later came

around to score, which was the eventual winning run. Gray, a right

fielder, and Eric Hansen each threw out Giant runners attempting to

score.

Chris Freeman pitched the first two innings for the Red Sox, and

allowed only one run, while Parker Werline completed two scoreless

innings. Blake Thomsen came on in relief in the fifth inning with two

runners on base and no outs, but he didn’t allow a run. He then went on

to pitch a scoreless sixth to end the game.

Jack Gerdau and Jamie Heinecke led the Giants with their defensive

efforts.

Yankees 15, Diamondbacks 9 - The Yankees ended their six-game losing

streak as Weston Nielsen crushed a grand slam, and Jake Starnes, Riley

Conroy and Mattias Russo-Larson contributed multi-hit performances.

Russo-Larson collected a run-scoring triple. Pitchers Josh Starnes,

J.P. Fleming, Zac Cabin, Conroy and Nielsen kep the Diamondbacks in

check.

Benjamin Noe led the D-Backs with two hits, including a homerun, while

Randall Nelson also had two hits and Scott Gordinier finished with a

triple.

Pitcher John Christian was steady for the D-Backs.