THE DREAM TEAM

The 2006 edition of the Daily Pilot Youth Baseball Dream Team was not easy to assemble. Several local teams went further than many expected and the talent was undeniable on each roster.

Eventually, that talent was whittled down to 14 players from local Little League Majors All-Star squads and the Newport Harbor Baseball Assn. Bronco All-Stars. All 14 of the players are from the same 11- and 12-year-old age grouping.

Selections include Martin Myszynski, Tyler Sheffner and J.T. McLuckey of the Costa Mesa American Little League All-Stars; Gramm Sedano and Stephen Hildebrand of the Costa Mesa National All-Stars; J.D. Dawn, Andrew McCormack and Chase Favreau of the Newport Beach American All-Stars; Jedd Thayer and Brett Thompson of the Newport Beach National All-Stars; and A.J. Swies, Nick McCann, Brett Parker and Matt Carpenter of the NHBA Bronco All-Stars.

With his 6-foot frame, Myszynski towered over most other Little League players. He also did it with his stats for the Costa Mesa American Devil Rays, clubbing nine home runs while primarily playing pitcher and catcher. On the all-star team, he led Costa Mesa American to a win in the third and deciding game of the Mayor’s Cup with a complete-game pitching performance.

“Martin was the leader for the Devil Rays,” Costa Mesa American Manager John McLuckey said. “As part of the starting rotation, he led them to win the first half of the season and force a one-game playoff between my Angels and his Devil Rays.”

Sheffner, who played for the Angels, led Costa Mesa American Little League with 12 home runs while batting .576 with only seven strikeouts. Defensively, he was solid at third base, and went 6-1 at pitcher.

J.T. McLuckey led Costa Mesa American Little League with 28 RBIs and batted .610 with seven home runs. He was the defensive captain at shortstop for the Angels and also went 5-1 at pitcher. Along with Myszynski and Sheffner, McLuckey helped lead the Costa Mesa American All-Stars into the District 62 Tournament semifinals.

Costa Mesa National Manager Greg Pearce called Sedano, the only 11-year-old on the Majors All-Stars, the best offensive player in the league. Pearce should know, considering Sedano helped lead Pearce’s regular-season Nationals team win the league Majors title. Sedano batted .500 during the regular season and .400 during the postseason, also contributing as a solid pitcher.

Hildebrand was versatile for the regular-season Phillies, playing pitcher, shortstop and in the outfield. He batted .441 during the regular season and had a .675 on-base percentage. He also helped the Costa Mesa National All-Stars with a home-run-saving catch in their opening-game win in the Mayor’s Cup.

The Newport Beach American Little League Majors All-Stars advanced all the way to the District 55 Finals, and Dawn, McCormack and Favreau were big reasons why.

Dawn batted .500 in league for the Athletics with two home runs, and also batted .421 in all-star competition. He was a standout at shortstop all year long and also pitched.

McCormack batted .467 in league for the White Sox, also pounding three home runs. In all-star play, he had a .471 average and hit two more home runs.

Favreau’s bat was on fire all season long for his father Mike Favreau’s Athletics, and that continued into the postseason. A center fielder, Chase Favreau hit .705 with three home runs and 15 doubles in league.

In all-stars, Favreau batted .685 with another home run and four more doubles.

For Newport Beach National Little League, Thayer was a force. He had a .479 regular-season average for the Padres, while playing shortstop and pitcher.

He also shined in the District 55 all-star tournament, throwing four innings of shutout ball in Newport Beach National’s first game and getting three hits in the team’s second game.

Thompson batted .493 as a shortstop and pitcher for the Cardinals during the regular season, helping his team advance to the championship game of the Majors Division.

By winning two games at the Region Tournament, the Newport Harbor Baseball Assn. Bronco All-Stars advanced further into the postseason than any team in NHBA history. They won the District Tourament and were one of the teams that advanced from the Section Tournament.

Parker, Carpenter, McCann and Swies — often the first four hitters in Manager Tony Swies’ order — helped get the offense going in the playoffs.

Parker batted .389 in the postseason with three home runs, bettering that to an even .500 during the District Tournament. As leadoff hitter, his 19 walks were two off the team lead, and he also pitched at times for the Bronco All-Stars.

Carpenter — one of just two 11-year-olds on the Bronco All-Star team — also led the team in batting with his .590 average. His six home runs were second on the team, and he was one of the regular pitchers on the squad as well.

“He’s a top guy in the whole league, the whole area,” Tony Swies said. “God’s blessed that kid with a lot of talent, and he’s a baseball junkie.”

McCann caught fire at the right time for Newport Harbor, hitting a blazing 13 for 18 (a .722 average) with a home run and three triples. In the postseason, his seven triples were easily a team-high, and he batted .527.

McCann also pitched in nearly every game for Newport Harbor, racking up more than 60 innings in 25 games while keeping his ERA just above 3.0.

A.J. Swies was the team’s cleanup hitter, and he did a lot of cleaning up. Swies had a team-high seven home runs in the postseason while batting .381. He was also the team’s closer and struck out 52 batters in just 29 innings, a very impressive ratio of almost two-to-one.