Newport Beach Little League: Reds hold off the Dodgers, 7-3

The Reds used solid hitting and pitching to build a 6-0 lead and

held off the Dodgers, 7-3, that retained the Reds’ lead in the Newport

Beach Little League Majors American Division.

The Reds’ J.P. Gormly, Sean Tokuyama, Andrew Silva, and Blaine Neilsen

ripped consecutive singles to open the first inning with a 3-0 lead. The

Reds added three more runs in the second on walks to Evan McNerney and

Eric Mooney, and doubles from Brett Bartlett and Tokuyama.

The Dodgers came back in the third, picking up three runs and an RBI

single off the bat of Alex Swigert. In the bottom of the frame, Neilsen

added another run on a base hit for the final score.

Silva, the Reds’ reliever, came on in the fourth and shut down the

Dodgers over the next three innings on just 33 pitches, allowing no runs,

no hits, while striking out four.

In NBLL AA Division action:

Diamondbacks 13, Dodgers 12 - The Diamondbacks rallied with six runs

in the final inning, as Michael Taormina picked up the game-winning

triple. Sam Cubeiro, Jeremy Bowinkel, Eric Hallett and Brandon Pick also

came up with timely hitting for the Diamondbacks, who improved to 9-2-1

and remain in second place.