Oysters move on to AA Division final

The Oysters battled back from an early 3-0 deficit to score an 8-4

victory over Ebell in a semifinal round game of the Laguna Beach

Little League AA Division postseason tournament.

Ebell had grabbed a 3-0 lead before the Oysters began their

comeback.

Ebell scored three, first inning runs behind hits by Griffin Fair,

Nicholas Channels, Robert Clemmons and Noah Garrett. The Oysters

retaliated with a run in the bottom of the inning when Barrett

Thornton scored on Nathan Thomas’ triple.

Eric Papa scored in the second inning on Sam French’s sacrifice to

push Ebell into a 4-1 lead but the Oysters pulled to within 4-2 when

Morgan Lebby’s double to right field scored Bryan Ludloff.

The Oysters then broke the game open in the bottom of the third.

Teague Hamilton’s single knocked in Jack Garcia and Timmy Hess

before Preston Grand Pre hit a towering, two-run home run to give the

Oysters 6-4 lead.

Nathan Thomas followed with his second triple of the game and he

scored when Warren Abbate singled to center to make it 7-4.

In the fourth, Joe Redfearn hit a leadoff single, stole second and

third and, two outs later, beat a tag at home to score the game’s

final run.

Ludloff and Grand Pre combined to strike out 11 of the final 12

batters they faced to preserve the Oyster’s victory.