Sportsworld takes pair of thrillers from FireFighters

The FireFighters and Sportsworld twice fought fierce, extra-innings

battles in Laguna Beach Little League Majors Division play, with

Sportsworld emerging victorious on each occasion.

The teams went head-to-head for nine innings in their first

meeting, then did the same in their second showdown, both resulting

in 3-2 victories for Sportsworld.

In the first game, the FireFighters held a 1-0 lead before

Sportsworld rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth, using

back-to-back doubles by Stevie Contursi and Paul Salomon to make it

1-1.

It was the second double of the game for Contursi.

Neither team was able to score in the seventh or eighth inning,

but in the top of the ninth, the FireFighters’ Willie Robinson drew a

walk and scored on an overthrow to give his team a 2-1 edge.

In the bottom of the ninth, Salomon connected on his second double

of the night, Michael Opera walked and Ryan Raffo was hit by a pitch

to load the bases.

One out later, Salomon and Opera scored on a mishandled infield

grounder and late throw to the plate, which gave Sportsworld a 3-2

triumph.

In their second, nine-inning, 3-2 affair, Opera delivered an RBI

single in the first inning to give Sportsworld the early lead, 1-0.

But the FireFighters retaliated in the bottom of the fourth, when

Brenden Mulvaney homered over the fence in left field and Ben Hanson,

who walked, scored on Andrew Shapiro’s sacrifice for a 2-1

FireFighters’ lead.

That lead stood until Sportsworld’s final at-bat.

Contursi led things off with a triple and scored the tying run

when Salomon placed a hit to the fence in right field. Salomon never

stopped running on the play and turn the hit into an inside-the-park

home run, which gave Sportsworld a 3-2 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, reliever Ryan Raffo struck out the

side to preserve the victory.

Raffo, who struck out seven in the first game, finished the second

game with nine strikeouts.

In other Majors Division action:

American Legion 16 Hobie 1

Beau Hutson blasted a three-run home run in the first inning and

followed with a two-run homer in the second frame, to power American

Legion.

American Legion took control from the game’s outset by scoring 11

runs behind hits by Alek Burk, Austin Paxson, Morgan Curry, Alex

Iannotti and Hutson’s homer.

The inning was aided by four Hobie errors and four walks.

The second produced four more runs for American Legion runs on an

error, a double by Paxson, a single by MacRae, and Huston’s second

home run.