Rotary sweeps to win title

Rotary rolled through postseason double elimination play without a

loss and swept regular season champion SportsWorld in the process en

route to the Laguna Beach Little League Majors Division tournament

championship.

Rotary defeated SportsWorld by scores of 7-2 and 7-4 to win the

postseason trophy.

Both teams currently are representing the league at the District

55 Tournament of Champions event, which got underway Monday.

Following a sixth inning rally that defeated American Legion in

its first postseason game, Rotary faced SportsWorld in consecutive

games to determine the tournament winner.

In the winner’s bracket championship matchup, Rotary bolted to a

7-0 lead after 3 1/2 innings and coasted to a 7-2 victory.

Rotary scored four of those runs in the opening inning as Michael

Hyden singled, Alec Loechner got on board on a two-base error and

Shane Takabayashi followed with a double that scored both Hyden and

Loechner.

Travis Sampson then singled to drive in Takabayashi, and Ryan

Takabayashi also singled Sampson to plate to make it 4-0.

Rotary scored run No. 5 in the third inning when Loechner came up

with a leadoff double and scored on Sampson’s second hit of the game.

Shane Takabayashi held the SportsWorld offense at bay in the first

three innings by not yielding a hit. He struck out three during that

stretch and was backed by the defensive play of Hyden, Sampson and

Evan Rubel.

In the fourth inning, Rubel drew a walk and consecutive doubles by

Alek Burk and Hyden drove in two more runs for a 7-0 lead.

SportsWorld cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth.

Taylor Preston was hit by a pitch, Drew Wheeler recorded his team’s

first hit, a single, and Preston went on to score on Zach Jaffe’s

infield ground out.

Takabayashi then registered consecutive strikeouts to end the

rally.

SportsWorld scored again in the fifth when Brian Vail reached back

on an error and scored on Alex Iannotti’s sacrifice fly to

centerfield.

It loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth when Wheeler

notched his second hit, Jaffe walked and Grif McMullen reached base

on a fielder’s choice. But with two out, Rotary’s Alex LeBon chased

down Austin Paxson’s deep fly to right field to end the game.

Burk, Hyden and Sampson led the Rotary offense with two hits each

during a 10-hit attack.

Wheeler had both hits for SportsWorld.

The second playoff matchup between the Majors Division top two

teams started and ended much like their first meeting.

After holding SportsWorld scoreless in the top of the first,

Rotary batted through its order in the bottom of the frame to score

four runs. Shane Takabayashi and Sampson each singled and Tyler

Kesler doubled to highlight the inning.

SportsWorld countered with a run in the second when Wheeler laid

down a perfect bunt and then put his speed on display as he circled

the bases and scored on a play aided by two Rotary throwing errors.

Rotary got that run back in the bottom of the second when Jake

Glazer reached base on an error and scored on a single by Loechner to

make it 5-1. Shane Takabayashi also doubled in the frame.

But it took one swing by Wheeler to get SportsWorld back into the

contest.

After walks to Vail and Paxson, Wheeler came up with two out and

launched the first pitch offered him over the fence in

right-centerfield to cut the deficit to 5-4.

Rotary gained some breathing room in the bottom of the third when

Ryan Takabayashi walked and scored on Burk’s two-out double for a 6-4

lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Rotary added an insurance run when

Glazer doubled and scored on Burk’s sacrifice fly to centerfield.

And again like the first tournament meeting between the teams,

SportsWorld make things interesting in the top of the sixth.

This time, Wheeler came up with his third hit of the game, Preston

drew a walk and Jaffe reached base on an error to lead the bases with

nobody out.

But SportsWorld could not score, as nice defensive plays by

Glazer, Kesler and Loechner defused the late rally and preserve

Rotary’s tournament-clinching victory.

Sampson and Shane Takabayashi each had two hits to lead an

eight-hit Rotary attack. Burk got the win and gave up just four hits,

three of which were recorded by Wheeler.

Vail led the SportsWorld defense with several outstanding plays.