Dream Team

Rick Devereux

Whittling down the number of kids for this year’s Daily Pilot Youth

Baseball Dream Team was difficult. There were so many qualified

players that had solid seasons, but a group of 11 finally emerged as

the best of the best.

Austin Quon played catcher for Jeff Hirsch’s Costa Mesa American

Little League All-Stars and made defensive plays in the Mayors Cup to

get his team out of bases-loaded jams on two separate occasions.

“Austin’s a great catcher,” Hirsch said. “I told him in front of

the [American All-Star team] how impressed I was.”

Quon was also the No. 2 pitcher for his regular season team, the

Angels, and had nine of their 18 wins. Hitting in the No. 3 slot,

Quon had four homeruns while batting .455.

Quon’s team mate Dan Hurley was able to contribute at the plate as

well as in the field. The Angels captain and leadoff hitter had a

.571 on-base-percentage and led the team in stolen bases. From his

shortstop position, Hurley was a vacuum gobbling up ground balls.

“He was a leader that helped the younger kids coming up,” Hirsch

said.

On top of his athletic achievements, the 12-year old received

straight As at Davis Elementary and is a Life Scout, one rank below

an Eagle Scout.

A.J. Roth simply dominated for the Costa Mesa National Little

League All-Stars. He was able to play almost any position manager

Clint Brown asked and drilled the ball every time he made contact.

“A.J. is a very good first baseman and pitcher as well as being

able to fill in any position on the field except catcher,” Brown

said. “He has such God-given abilities, it’s incredible how good he

could be if he really wanted to be the best player in Costa Mesa.”

Roth hit .554 over the regular season with eight doubles and two

homers. Roth throws a blistering fastball and a knee-buckling curve.

That combination helped him strike out six of the 15 batters he faced

in four innings of the Mayor’s Cup. He only allowed one hit during

the two game event. He also went 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI.

Eusebio Castillo played for Tom Burns’ Padres in the Costa Mesa

National and made quite an impression on his manager.

“His pitching is outstanding and his abilities at shortstop are

great,” Burns said. “It would be easier to talk about his downside

because there aren’t any. I seriously think he has major-league

ability.”

Castillo played on Brown’s Costa Mesa National All-Star team.

Brown gave similarly high praise for the soon-to-be TeWinkle

eighth-grader who has been known to throw out runners at first base

from centerfield.

“Eusebio is the finest Little League pitcher I have ever seen,” he

said. “And, having umpired in this and many other leagues for almost

14 years, that is really saying something.”

John Doering opened up the season for the Mariners in the Newport

Beach American Little League by throwing a no-hitter against the

Angels and continued to do well throughout the season. As a shortstop

and pitcher, Doering used speed and determination to excel.

Naturally right-handed, Doering batted left to take advantage of

his speed.

“The opposing shortstop would play deep,” All-Star coach Michael

Borchard said, “and John would hit it to him on purpose. The other

guy thought he had a routine ground ball, but when he fired to first,

John was already two steps past the base.”

While Doering used speed, the Reds’ shortstop and pitcher Sean

Tokuyama used power. During Newport Beach American All-Star

practices, Borchard offered a $10 reward for anyone who could hit

back-to-back home runs. It was a safe bet for the coach until

Tokuyama came up.

“No one had gone back-to-back yet,” Borchard said. “Sean comes up

and hits, like, seven in a row. I don’t think there’s a better hitter

in Little League.”

Tokuyama hit .750 with an OBP of .810 for the Reds, and had two

home runs. He only lost once as the team’s No. 2 pitcher.

Borchard had the opportunity to coach his son, Mike, on the Reds

and the Newport Beach American All-Star team. Mike played short and

pitched and was counted on when his team needed him the most.

“Mike carried us pitching-wise all through the year,” Borchard

said. “He pitched and won the hard games. We would put him in with

the bases loaded and he would get three strikeouts in a row.”

Mike did not lose a game as pitcher. While figuring out wins in

Little League can be tricky considering the number of innings

pitchers are restricted to, Borchard guessed Mike and Tokuyama had at

least eight wins each, possibly more, during the Reds’ 18-3 regular

season.

Mike was the total package for the Reds, hitting .550 with an OBP

of .650 while only committing two errors in the field.

Michael Bloom was like a coach when he was on the field for the

Cardinals and the Newport Beach National Little League All-Stars.

“He is very intense on the field,” manager and father Jeff Bloom

said. “Every time he came up to hit, all of the other kids in the

dugout would hold their breath and watch him bat.”

There was good cause for the anticipation from the players because

Bloom had the ability to hit a home run at any moment. He hit three

home runs in one game for the Cardinals earlier in the year. He

finished the year batting .650 with nine dingers.

Ryan Albert, a pitcher, third baseman and outfielder for the

Newport Harbor Baseball Association Bronco A Cubs, was a terror on

the mound and in the batter’s box. Albert allowed 10 earned runs in

39 innings of work and struck out 67, a staggering 1.7 K’s an inning.

And he hit .400 with an OBP of .577.

Alex Maddox played second base and outfield for the NHBA Giants

and had one of the most impressive seasons for any youth baseball

player. He hit .475 with an OBP of .700.

Jacob McCann played mostly at shortstop for the NHBA Padres, but

he was able to pitch if need be. But he’s skills in the middle

infield were deemed “too valuable” by his all-star manager to

regularly on the mound. His skills at the plate were also helpful,

hitting .475 with an OBP of .650.

Manager Rich Hogan said Albert, Maddox and McCann were three-year

veterans of his NHBA All-Star team.

“For three years in a row they have played more games than anyone

in the area,” Hogan said. “They reached the regionals as 10-year olds

and as 11s. All three of them were leaders by example. They all did

everything that was asked of them.”