Sports comes out ahead

Regular season Majors Division champion Sportsworld made its first

statement in the division’s postseason tournament.

Playing with a strong resolve to add to its trophy hardware,

Sportsworld opened play in the tournament by blanking Team Hobie,

9-0, in Laguna Beach Little League action at Riddle Field.

Sportsworld scored early but Team Hobie stayed in contention until

the fourth inning.

They posted their initial runs in their first at-bat, with Austin

Paxson, Stevie Contursi and Taylor Preston getting on board to load

the bases in the top of the first inning.

That set the scene for Drew Wheeler, who sent a crushing double

that scored both Paxson and Contursi home.

Sportsworld threatened again in the second inning when Brian Vail

sliced a double and Griffin McMullen and Riley Lozano each drew a

walk, but Team Hobie’s Shane Selfridge pitched his way out of the jam

to get away unscathed.

A single drive down the third base line put Sawyer Pierce on base

and Kirk Knott singled up the middle to start a Team Hobie rally, but

both runners were left stranded.

It was much the same story for both teams in the third inning,

when Contursi and Taylor Preston each delivered a single, but were

left on base. In the bottom of the inning, Spencer Friedenrich

singled to left field to load the bases for Team Hobie, but Contursi

came up with three strikeouts in succession to close out the scoring

threat.

But the flow of the game changed in the fourth inning.

Vail started off the inning for Sportsworld by hitting his first

home run of the season. That feat was followed by another home run,

this one by Contursi, which made it 4-0.

A soaring single by Griffin McMullen set up a base hit by Riley

Lozano, who scored McMullen.

Vail again got Sportsworld up and running in the fifth by doubling

to the fence, and that was followed by the team’s third home run of

the game, this one by Wheeler.

Travis Clawson and Robert Clemons also had hits in the frame, with

Clawson scoring on a hit by Hunter Smith.

The long ball continued to favor Sportsworld in the top of the

sixth, as Preston hit his first home run of the season, a two-run

shot which capped the scoring.

The victory sent Sportsworld into a Wednesday meeting with Rotary,

the only other undefeated team in the Majors Division tournament.

The score was not available at press time.

Rotary won its post-season opener by rallying past American

Legion, 10-9.

Team Hobie earned the showdown with Sportworld by posting an 8-6

first round victory over VFW.