D-backs’ mistakes costly

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Shortstop Dylan Reyes came from the third-base dugout before the bottom of the sixth inning, bringing with him instructions for Costa Mesa National Little League Majors Diamondbacks team parents.

“Everyone,” Reyes said firmly. “Rally caps!”

The parents obeyed, turning their D-backs caps inside-out in hope of a comeback for the team at the District 62 Tournament of Champions. But the Diamondbacks turned out to be a bit snake-bitten throughout their season-ending 6-0 quarterfinal loss to the Ocean View Little League Mets on Tuesday at Murdy Park.

The Diamondbacks committed three errors, leading to four unearned runs for the Mets, and the tone was set in the top of the first inning.

The Mets (20-4) loaded the bases with no outs against Diamondbacks starter Johnathan Ball, but Ball responded with back-to-back strikeouts. “I think I pitched pretty good,” said Ball, who allowed five hits in six innings and struck out 10. “My curveball was getting a lot of people out.”

But then a wild pitch allowed a run to score, and the Mets’ Mitchell Vega followed with a line drive that went off the D-backs’ second baseman’s glove and into right field. The error allowed two more unearned runs and gave the Mets the early 3-0 lead.

The designated visiting team, playing at its home field, added two more unearned runs in the fourth.

“Errors cost us four runs,” Diamondbacks Manager Frank Jarmacz said. “[Taking the errors away] makes it a 2-0 game and anything can happen. We were one pitch away from getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, which would have been huge. That error was killer. Our defense did let us down a little bit today. Then again, we didn’t score any runs.”

The Diamondbacks managed just two hits, one each by Matt Jarmacz and Noah JeyaRajah. Only one ball, Jarmacz’s single to left field in the fourth inning, left the infield.

Neither of the hits were off Mets starting pitcher Ben Drolet, who was perfect through three innings and struck out seven with a blazing fastball.

Drolet struck out the first five batters he faced, before JeyaRajah grounded out to second on a close play.

“That’s the fastest Little League pitcher I’ve seen in some time,” Frank Jarmacz said.

Mets manager Richard Lopez, who said he pulled the 5-foot-7 Drolet after 40 pitches to keep him eligible to pitch in the TOC semifinals, said his ace hits about 70 mph.

Lopez added that his team didn’t have its best game. However, good pitching has allowed the league champion Mets to earn three straight shutouts.

“The pitching and the defense have been very strong,” Lopez said. “We definitely took advantage of a couple of key hits and some of their defensive mistakes.”

The Diamondbacks tried to rally, something Matt Jarmacz said his team had done plenty of times before. He remembered winning a game after being behind, 9-0, in the sixth, and another game that the D-backs won in nine innings. Rallies like that helped the team finish second in the Costa Mesa National Little League Majors tournament, even after the D-backs lost their opening playoff game.

Reyes and Jarmacz each reached base with two outs in the sixth, but Mets relief pitcher Tristan Chester induced a groundout to end the game.

“This is the farthest I’ve ever made it in TOC,” said Matt Jarmacz, who pitched a shutout Saturday in the Diamondbacks’ 1-0 first-round win over Robinwood. “We were a good-hitting team, we made good plays in the field, and we could rally back sometimes. It was just an all-around good team.”

His father, Frank Jarmacz, agreed with the sentiments and said it was a pleasure to coach the Diamondbacks this season.

“I am proud of my kids,” Frank Jarmacz said. “We eliminated four teams, including three in our own league, to get this far. The team’s had a great, positive attitude all year long. The kids love playing ball.”

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.