Padres crowned champs

Chris Yemma

As a slight evening mist, usually associated with the break of dawn,

rolled into Laguna Hills Sports Park Wednesday, pitching ace J.D.

Dawn kept his cool.

The Newport Beach Little League Padres’ thrower had to keep the

Laguna Niguel Twins in check through one final inning for his team to

win the District 55 Tournament of Champions Majors division baseball

title.

It was Blake Thomsen that had blasted a solo shot to right-center

and Mason Case that added an RBI double, both during the previous

inning, to break a deadlocked game.

So, it was up to Dawn to close the book, with historical

implications on the line: just one Newport Beach Little League team

had won a district championship in the past 27 years, Newport Coach

Bart Thomsen said.

In dramatic fashion, in the bottom of the sixth inning, Dawn and

his teammates took care of the minimum three batters to preserve the

Padres’ 5-3 victory for the district title.

“I was scared someone was going to hit [a home run],” Dawn said

about the final inning, after he allowed a single to leadoff batter

Dana Johnson to bring the tying run to the plate. “I feel real happy

we won.”

Dawn received help when catcher Gianni Ferrante fired the ball to

first baseman Ryan Grable, who tagged out Johnson for the second out.

Dawn struck out the final batter for the win, which gave Thomsen his

first championship-game victory in five attempts.

“I’ve reached the [Newport Beach Little League] championship five

straight years and lost them all,” Thomsen said, “so it’s pretty

funny to go all the way and beat the teams in the Tournament of

Champions.”

It marked the second straight game the opposing team had brought

at least the tying run to the plate in the last inning against the

Padres. The Lake Forest Red Sox loaded the bases in the sixth inning

in Monday’s semifinals for the potential win, but Case induced the

final out from the mound.

Dawn had the honor Wednesday, sealing the championship with

offensive help from the younger Thomsen and Case, as well as

Ferrante, Mikey Pawell and Mike Moorhead.

Thomsen’s loaded bat did the most damage. He started the game with

a triple off the fence in right-center field and he blasted his home

run during his third at-bat. He just missed clearing the fence on his

second at-bat and was snagged for an out, finishing 2 for 3 with an

RBI and two runs scored.

“This was probably my best moment on a baseball field,” he said.

Dawn retired the side in the second and fifth innings, and faced

the minimum in the sixth during his complete-game, four-hit outing on

the mound. Offensively, he drilled a triple in the fifth inning just

after Thomsen had nailed his homer.

Ferrante and Pawell both finished 1 for 3 at the plate with a run

scored, while Case was 1 for 3 with an RBI and Moorhead scored a run

in the second inning.

Other contributors for the Padres included Spencer Bruno, Alex

Grody, Austin Pollard and Blake Grable.