National All-Stars fall, 11-3

HUNTINGTON BEACH ? Manager Greg Pearce sees hitting as one of the Costa Mesa National Little League Major All-Stars’ strengths, and Little League games are prone to big rallies.

Even so, it’s tough to come back from a 7-0 first-inning deficit. Costa Mesa tried but fell short in an 11-3 loss to Seaview in a first-round District 62 All-Star Tournament game on Saturday at LeBard Park.

Costa Mesa National is still alive in the double-elimination tournament, and will play Huntington Valley in a losers’ bracket game on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., also at LeBard Park.

Seaview strung together its big seven-run first inning with the benefit of just two hits. Two errors, a hit batter and four walks didn’t exactly help Costa Mesa’s cause.

“They’re a good team,” Pearce said. “They caught us off guard. It set us back on our heels and threw us out of rhythm. But, you know, it was just a bad day and the kids made some errors. That’s baseball.”

Seaview leadoff hitter Jacob Rushing reached on an error, and a subsequent sacrifice bunt was thrown too late to third and both runners were safe on the play.

Rushing scored on a wild pitch, then a single loaded the bases. After a sacrifice fly made the score 2-0, a wild pitch scored another run.

Seaview scored four more times in the inning, on a passed ball, a single and another infield error.

Costa Mesa fought back in the top of the third off Rushing, also the pitcher. Sean Lagotic reached on an error, and Kannon Stone’s single up the middle put two runners on.

Gramm Sedano followed with a double to the center-field fence, scoring Lagotic and giving Costa Mesa its first run. Two outs later, Andres Hernandez’s single up the middle drove in Sedano, upping Seaview’s advantage to 7-2.

Hernandez was two for three with a double.

“Their pitcher threw hard,” Pearce said. “It took us a little while to figure him out, but after we did, we started hitting him. We had one good inning; it just wasn’t enough.”

Seaview came back in the fourth, scoring two more runs on a pair of passed balls.

Costa Mesa again answered in the fifth, when Sedano hit his second double of the day, this time to left field. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Sedano scored on Chris Molina’s infield single.

Seaview ultimately added the exclamation point to the victory in the bottom of the inning, when Rushing smacked a two-run home run to center.

Brodie Pearce reached base twice for Costa Mesa National in the loss, and Connor Gilligan had a fourth-inning single.

Also contributing were starting right fielder Ray Holmes, second baseman Kevin Carvajal, left fielder Alex Trancoso, Eddie Bisoso, Hans Anderle and Brady Henscheid.

Greg Pearce said Bisoso and Henscheid will probably team up to pitch in Wednesday’s elimination game.

“They’re a couple of good pitchers,” Pearce said. “We’ve just got to rely on our bats to give us the lead. Hopefully, we can stay close, and win that way.”