Costa Mesa National Little League: Dodgers claim sole possession of

first

COSTA MESA - Justin Long had it going both ways to benefit the

Dodgers as they defeated the Diamondbacks, 6-4, in a Costa Mesa National

Little League Majors Division game.

Long singled in Nick Pedersen (walk) and Brian Bennett (single) to

break a 2-2 tie, giving the Dodgers a 4-2 lead in the fifth, and they

would hold on for the victory.

Long pitched six innings allowing four hits while striking out eight

D-back batters.

The Dodgers drew blood first when Long singled and advanced to third

and eventually scored on Brandon Grimmett’s hit. Juan Guzman added the

second run after walking and stealing second and third and advancing home

on a throwing error.

Cory Ames singled and doubled for the Dodgers.

Earlier in the week:

* Dodgers 8, Astros 4 - Two home runs in a game is a feat any Little

Leaguer would want to accomplish.

The Dodgers’ Bryan Bennett did just that against the Astros.

But it was the similarity of his two home runs that catches the eye.

Bennett’s two three-run home runs in the first and third innings

brought in the same two runners both times, Ian Abernathy and Nick

Pedersen, who had both reached base with hits in the two innings.

The Dodgers also received help at the plate from Justin Long (single),

Brandon Grimmett (single), Cory Ames (double, walk), Cody Green (single)

and Alex Grosek (single and RBI).

Juan Guzman pitched a complete game striking out 10 Marlins.

In other Majors Division play:

* Marlins 4, Diamondbacks 3 - In a tightly-fought game, the Marlins

scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull out the win over the

Diamondbacks.

In the sixth, Adam Seagondollar and Nick DiPietro both reached base on

ground balls to the left side opening the inning. After a force out, Ryan

Maxwell hit a ground ball past the second baseman to score two runners,

making the Marlins victorious.

Neither team led by more than one run throughout the entire game.

The D-backs scored first in the first inning after Ryan Redding

doubled in Andrew Ayala, who reached base on a single. The Marlins took

the lead right back in their half of the first on back-to-back hits. With

two outs, Danny O’Neil singled and Seagondollar doubled to put runners on

second and third. DiPietro then singled to plate both runners and give

the Marlins a 2-1 lead.

The D-backs responded with two more runs in the third. Max Friedman

singled to open the inning, and after Redding singled, Riley Hart doubled

in two runs.

Pitching and defense stepped up for the Marlins after that.

Marlins’ pitcher Anthony Secrest gave up only one additional single

and walk to the D-backs in going the entire six innings.

Kevin Kiser, Michael Pierce, Mitch Shamrell and Anthony Tellez each

contributed key defensive plays for the Marlins.

The D-back defense strengthened in the third and fourth innings.

In the bottom of the third, O’Neil and Seagondollar singled for the

Marlins, but both runners were stranded. In the fourth, Ryan Maxwell

walked and Evan Kipnis laid down a bunt single to put two Marlins runners

on base, but succeeding Marlins hitters were unable to bring the runners

home.

* Cardinals 8, Astros 1 - Eddie Tomasek (bases-clearing triple and

scored twice) and Ryan Knapp (singled, scored twice) teamed-up to limit

the Astros to one run, while combining for nine strikeouts in the

Cardinals’ win in the first game of a doubleheader for the Cardinals.

Garrick Williams (3 for 3 with two singles and a double), Wes Barloon

(singled, scored twice), Chris Falbo (double, run scored), Johnny Person

(single) and Aaron Gross (single) all helped the Cardinals’ hitting.

Williams added a diving catch at first base and Barloon made a great

play in center field.

* Tigers 10, Cardinals 3 - The Tigers jumped on the Cardinals pitchers

to take a 7-0 lead and never looked back in defeating the Redbirds.

The Cardinals played their second game of the day after defeating the

Astros, 8-1.

Garrick Williams and Eddie Tomasek hit back-to-back home runs for the

Cardinals in the third as Johnny Person, Peter Frydendall and William

Evans each singled, but it was not enough to defeat the Tigers.

* Cardinals 7, Diamondbacks 0 - Cardinal defenders stymied any rally

the Diamondbacks tried to put together and won handily.

In the second, Chris Falbo, who scored twice, threw to shortstop Ryan

Knapp, who also scored, to nail a stealing runner. Wes Barloon (run

scored) made two catches in center field and Johnny Person (run scored)

handled line drives in the second and third innings.

Garrick Williams (run scored) walked two, gave up two hits and struck

out five made some strong defensive plays in the fourth when the D-backs

tried to mount a comeback.

Riley Hart singled and Brandon Maurer reached on an error for the

D-backs, but then Williams stopped the bleeding.

He threw to Peter Frydendall at third to get the lead runner for the

first out. Willams charged the next grounder and took it to third himself

for the second out. He proceeded to strike out the next batter to end the

inning and preserve the shutout.

The Cardinals’ Aaron Gross (run scored) made a running catch in left

field and Frydendall handled a bullet at third in the sixth.

In Minor A Division action:

* Dodgers 8, Cardinals 2 - The Dodgers bats never seemed to quiet as

the team took over first place with the win over the Cardinals.

The Dodgers took an early 3-0 lead after Joshua Erno (3 for 3) tripled

home Jeff Guillen and Daniel Degree, and then scored on Coleman Brown’s

single.

In the fourth, Eusebio Castillo tripled and scored on a single by

Billy DeGirolamo.

The scoring continued in the fifth as Daniel Derieg and Erno both

singled and Brown and Castillo both doubled, adding three more runs for

the Dodgers.

* Dodgers 7, Diamondbacks 6 - The Dodgers kept coming back and their

perseverance paid-off as they got the win over the Diamondbacks.

Eusebio Castillo and Daniel Derieg each scored in the first inning to

tie the game, 2-2, but the D-backs scored four runs in the third to take

the lead.

But the Dodgers came back on runs from Derieg, Joshua Erno and Coleman

Brown to trail, 6-5.

Castillo came in and retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth

innings.

In the Dodger half of the fifth, Erno singled, stole second and scored

on a single by Brown, who came home to score on a wild pitch to give the

Dodgers a 7-6 lead.

Castillo dazzled in the sixth, striking out two and throwing out a

runner at the plate.

In T-ball:

The Cardinals and the Tigers battled one another. Jason Rodriguez and

Stephen Snell had two base hits, while Garrett Henscheid also hit some

balls to second.

Connor Pierce, Malcolm Williams and Zack Shafer made some good plays

at first and second.