District 62 Tournament of Champions: A run around redbirds

Bryce Alderton

FOUNTAIN VALLEY - From the first pitch to the last pitch, the Costa

Mesa National Little League Major Dodgers faithful cheered their team on.

And they had much to cheer about as the Dodgers jumped out to a 7-0

lead, enough to defeat the Robinwood Cardinals, 7-1, in the quarterfinals

of the District 62 Tournament of Champions Saturday at Mile Square Park.

The Dodgers (20-6) will play Monday at 5 p.m. at the same site.

Parents, grandparents and friends all jammed the bleachers next to the

Dodgers’ third-base dugout to root each player that came to bat or made a

great defensive play.

“We have a great crowd, don’t we,” said Joanna Long, mother of

Dodgers’ Justin Long, after the game. “We fire up.”

The cheering began in the first inning, as the first three Dodger

batters reached base and scored.

Catcher Bryan Bennett continued his recent torrid hitting with a

double that rolled to the fence in center field, plating Nick Pederson

and Ian Abernathy, who had walked and singled respectively.

Bennett would steal a base and score a run in the inning on an RBI

groundout by Long.

The Dodgers tacked on two more runs in the second and third innings to

build a 7-0 lead. Their pitching and defense did the rest, limiting the

Cardinals to just two hits.

Juan Guzman started the game on the mound for the Dodgers, going three

innings, while Long pitched the final three.

Both used effective breaking balls and change-ups that often tailed

down below the knees of Cardinal batters, resulting inseveral groundouts.

“All of our pitchers pitch at the knees. It’s the key to the game,”

said Dodger Manager Kid Pederson. “(The pitchers) know that if a ball is

in play, the defense will back them up so they’re comfortable throwing

the ball. It makes it nice for the pitchers that we didn’t wait for the

sixth (inning) today. We started it early.”

Pederson referred to the team’s first-round 16-1 win, when the team

blew open a 4-0 game in the sixth with a 12-run inning.

The Dodgers finished with nine hits. Third baseman Abernathy went 3

for 3 with two singles and a double, scored a run and had an RBI, while

Cody Green singled twice, had an RBI and scored a run. Second baseman

Cory Ames scored two runs and walked, and Guzman singled and scored a

run. Pederson went 1 for 2 with a walk, single, RBI and run scored, while

Alex Grosek singled and had an RBI groundout for the Dodgers.

Defensively, Ames ran to his left to field a grounder in the fourth.

He scooped up the ball and flipped it to first baseman Brandon Grimmett

for a force out.

On a 1-1 pitch to the next batter Nathan Holz Bennett fired to

shortstop Guzman covering second base to tag the runner out.

Cameron Holz, Derek Mouradian Devin Dowdy had the three Cardinal hits,

with Holz scoring their lone run.

Guzman pitched three innings, allowing one run on two hits, walking

one and striking out four. Long came in in relief, allowing no runs on

one hit while walking two and striking out two.

After the game, one fan said the umpires at times were inconsistent,

calling plays either too fast or too slow.

“We called it faster in the stands,” said Shawna Bowman. “You have got

to be on your feet for both teams. You can’t sit there and think about

it.”

One call on a Cardinal groundout to first in the sixth inning irked

Bowman, when the first base umpire initially stretched out his arms as if

to make a safe call, then reneged and called the runner out.

Home plate umpire Don Class said the umpire made the correct call, he

just made the call too quickly.

“It’s nothing until we call it,” Class said. “We critique each other

after the games, so we’ll look at that. It was a slow play at first, but

he was out. It pays to take your time.”