Lightning strikes early on for Newport

Bryce Alderton

From no runs and one hit Saturday to 12 hits and 11 runs Wednesday,

needless to say the Newport Beach American Major All-Stars upped the

intensity level just a bit.

Eight runs, six hits, all with two outs in the first inning, sent

the Newport 11- and 12-year-olds on their way to an 11-5 victory,

eliminating the South Irvine American All-Stars from the District 55

Major All-Stars tournament Wednesday night at Curtis Park. Both teams

lost their first-round games to drop to the loser’s bracket.

Any hint of a Newport loss was quelled early on as shortstop Mitch

Sands began the eight-run onslaught with a solo home run -- his fifth

of the season -- over the fence in center field.

“That changed mine and the team’s momentum,” Nick Freeman,

Newport’s starting pitcher who went the entire six innings, said of

Sands’ home run. “It got our whole bench up.”

“[The South Irvine pitcher] hung a curveball and I got it,” Sands

said. “I was so happy to get the rally started because I didn’t play

well in the last game.”

That excitement was what Newport lacked in a 5-0, one-hit loss to

Rancho Santa Margarita in the tournament opener Saturday.

“We were obviously disappointed in our effort Saturday, so we

needed to refocus, get our priorities in line and be determined and

confident,” Newport Manager Tim Scott said. “The rest fell into

place.”

Three Newport players got two hits each including Sands, Merrett

Scott and Matt Morris.

Scott and Morris each singled and scored in the first, part of

eight consecutive players to cross the plate as Newport sent 11 men

to the plate. Also singling and scoring in the first were Timmy

Winning and Michael Borchard while Evan McNerney drove in two runs

after an error by the third baseman. Leadoff hitter John Doering

reached on an error and scored on Scott’s single to left for the

eighth run of the inning.

“We were hitting a lot at practice,” Merrett Scott said.

“[Wednesday] we worked much better as a team. I was more confident

[at the plate Wednesday than against RSM pitcher Scott Blair

Saturday].”

Blair stifled Newport bats Saturday, alternating from fastballs to

changeups at will. South Irvine hurler, Takatoshi Kitamori, threw

slower than Blair and his curveballs didn’t move with as much

precision.

“We definitely faced easier pitchers today,” Morris said. Morris

drove in Winning, who had walked with one out in the sixth, for

Newport’s 11th run in the top of the sixth. South Irvine scored twice

in the sixth to narrow the outcome.

Newport scored single runs in the third and fourth innings. Scott

singled in Doering, who had reached on a walk in the third, while

Sean Tokuyama plated Morris with a single to left in the fourth. Ryan

Spitzer singled up the middle in the fourth and finished 1 for 1 with

three walks, twice after being hit by pitches.

Doering, Morris and Winning all scored twice while Jerry

Kazmierczak added to Newport’s potent lineup, which gave Freeman, who

said he had a slight headache at the beginning of the game, a hefty

cushion going to the mound.

“I had good velocity, I walked a few guys but then stretched my

body out and started to throw strikes,” he said.

Freeman struck out four and allowed five hits, including two

doubles to Derek Campbell, who knocked in four of South Irvine’s five

runs.

South Irvine had a chance to cut into a 10-3 lead in the fifth

with runners on first and second and one out. But Sands ranged to his

left to scoop-up a grounder, stepped on the second-base bag and fired

to Morris at first for the double play.

In the sixth, Merrett Scott, playing at second base, made a

backhanded stop of a roller and flipped to Sands covering the bag for

the force out. Sands and Scott were teammates during the regular

season on the Red Sox.

Morris came within inches of the fence lining the right side to

backhand a popup in the sixth and Winning made several stops of balls

in the dirt while filling in for Michael Katz at catcher. Katz fell

ill during batting practice Wednesday, Tim Scott said.

“[Winning] brought his ‘A’ game,” Tim Scott said.

Newport American now gets set to face the Newport National

All-Stars Saturday at 5 p.m. at the same site with the loser dropping

out of the double-elimination tournament.

The teams have held two scrimmages against one another the past

two weeks and many players are familiar with members of the opposing

team.

“We’ve had two good games against them,” Merrett Scott said.

“There has been some hype, but this time it counts.”