Rotary’s outstanding playoff run comes to an end

Mike Sciacca

Rotary’s outstanding season came to an end last Saturday as the Lake

Forest Red Sox came from behind to score a 4-1 victory in

second-round Majors Division action at the District 55 Tournament of

Champions.

Lake Forest went on to a runner-up finish in the bracket, where it

lost, 7-5, to eventual District 55 Majors Division champion, Newport

Beach.

Rotary actually out-hit Lake Forest, 4-2, but the Red Sox scored

two unearned runs in the third inning without getting a hit to take a

2-1 lead.

They added two more runs in the fifth inning on a walk, single and

double.

Rotary got onto the scoreboard first by scoring a single run in

the second inning.

Shane Takabayashi started the Rotary half of the frame with a

line-drive single and went on to score on Tyler Kesler’s line drive

double to the left-centerfield gap.

In the bottom of the second inning, Rotary starter Alec Burk gave

up with a two-out walk, but Mark Craycroft was left stranded, and the

score remained 1-0.

After Rotary went down in order in the top of the third, Lake

Forest leadoff hitter Mike DuCote drew a walk and two outs later,

Craig Zauerwich hit a lazy fly ball to right centerfield. A

miscommunication between the Rotary outfielders allowed the ball to

fall between them, and DuCote scored all the way from first base to

tie the game, with Zauerwick moving to third on the hit.

Zauerwick went on to come home on a delayed steal, which gave Lake

Forest its first lead, 2-1, a lead it would not give up.

Rotary appeared to bounce right back in the top half of the fourth

when Alec Loechner came up with a lead-off single up the middle and

took second base on Travis Sampson’s ground out. With two out, Ryan

Takabayashi grounded out to end the inning, which left Rotary still a

run down.

Burk then set down the Red Sox in order in the fourth inning,

recording his fifth strikeout of the game in the process.

In the top of the fifth, Lake Forest shortstop, Matt Chapman, made

the defensive play of the game for his team when he robbed Bo O’Bryan

of extra bases. O’Bryan had ripped a line short that appeared

destined for the left-centerfield gap, but Chapman perfectly timed

his jump and snagged the line drive out of the air.

That play led to a 1-2-3 inning as the Red Sox preserved their 2-1

lead.

Burk entered the bottom of the fifth still tossing a no-hitter,

but walked the Red Sox’s No. 9 batter, Austin Dunn, to start the

inning. After Michael Hyden made an outstanding defensive play at

first base for the first out of the inning, Chris Gonzales’ bloop

single to shallow centerfield gave Lake Forest its first hit of the

game.

That brought Chapman, who is considered to be the top player on

the Red Sox, to the plate, with runners at the corners. Chapman

proceeded to drill a line shot down the third base line that Rotary

third baseman Shane Takabayashi attempted to snag, but the sharp shot

deflected off his glove for a double that scored Dunn to give Lake

Forest a 3-1 lead.

Zauerwick followed with a sacrifice fly to score Gonzales and

extend the lead to 4-1.

Burk got out of the inning by posting his sixth strikeout.

Rotary sent its top hitters to the plate in the top of the sixth,

but Chapman, the Lake Forest ace, was brought in for relief duty.

Chapman closed the game and preserved the narrow victory for the Red

Sox.

Prior to losing to Lake Forest, Rotary had reeled off five

consecutive victories, including a sweep in the Laguna Beach Little

League postseason Majors Division tournament, on the way to winning

nine of its last 10 outings.

“This team worked very hard all season and the hard work certainly

paid off,” Rotary manager Cary Hyden said. “We played our best

baseball at the end of the year, as we swept our post-season

tournament and demonstrated in TOC that we were clearly one of the

top teams in Orange County. I could not be more proud of these kids.”

The Rotary roster is composed of Jake Glazer, Alek Burk, Michael

Hyden, Alec Loechner, Shane Takabayashi, Ryan Takabayashi, Travis

Sampson, Tyler Kesler, Alex LeBon, Bo O’Bryan, Brogan O’Bryan and

Evan Rubel.

Burk, Hyden, Loechner and Shane Takabayashi were recently named to

the Laguna Beach Majors Division All-Star team.

Rubel, Ryan Takabayashi and Brogan O’Bryan were named to the

Laguna Beach 11-year-old All-Star team.

Both Laguna All-Star teams will compete in July at the District 55

All-Star Tournament.