Dottl’s double keys Red Sox win

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Jeff Dottl understands his role as the cleanup hitter.

With slugger Dante Capoccia batting in front of him, Dottl gets plenty of chances to drive in runs.

That didn’t change in the District 62 Tournament of Champions at LeBard Park.

Just that Coach Rob Stillman said Dottl has struggled a little bit for the Costa Mesa National Little League Majors Red Sox.

So, what did Dottl do Thursday? He switched bats, going with a lighter one. Dottl showed that he still carried a big bat.

Dottl doubled to right-center field with the bases loaded, driving in the first two runs during a three-run third inning to help the Red Sox beat the Robinwood Dodgers, 4-0, in the semifinals.

Next for the Red Sox is the championship game against the Ocean View Mets Saturday at Murdy Park at 10 a.m.

Dottl is ready to deliver Stillman’s second TOC title.

“If Dante doesn’t [get a chance to] hit, if Dante gets walked, then it’s my job to [hit],” said Dottl, who went one for three with two runs batted in. “I’ve been working on [my swing], going to the batting cages, just swinging without any balls.”

The extra work proved to be the difference.

The Red Sox (18-1) faced a tough right-hander in Austin Sojka. In the first two innings for the Dodgers (18-5), he fired 19 strikes, zero balls.

But Sojka looked human against the first batter in the top of the third, throwing his first ball of the game. Jeremy Beltz eventually walked on the sixth pitch.

Sojka mowed down the next batter on three pitches, giving him his third strikeout. He finished with eight.

But Levi Stillman and Capoccia singled on back-to-back at-bats, setting things up for Dottl. With Sojka constantly hitting the strike zone, Dottl went to work right away.

On the second pitch, Dottl went the other way with the pitch to bring home Beltz and Stillman.

“He hits behind Dante, so [the opposing teams] have a tendency to pitch around Dante,” Rob Stillman said. “He got a big double right there. That was a huge part of the game.”

The lead increased to 3-0 after Capoccia came home on a passed ball. This allowed the coach to relieve his ace, Capoccia, after 2 1/3 innings.

Capoccia wasn’t as sharp as he was in his previous two starts in which he never allowed a hit and struck out 12.

Capoccia fanned six again. But the hard-throwing right-hander gave up a double in the first inning, the first hit against Capoccia in the tournament. He also hit two batters.

He still battled, leaving runners stranded on third base in the first and second innings. Capoccia struck out the batter each time swinging to get out unharmed.

“That’s good when you can pitch bad and still shut them out,” Stillman said. “Hats off to the defense and the pitchers when they had to [hunker down].”

Stillman’s son, Levi, found himself in a couple precarious situations during his three innings in relief. One immediately with a runner on third.

Landon Marshall hit a tricky one-hopper to Capoccia at shortstop. The runner took off for home and Capoccia showed catcher Jackson Letterman how tough the one-hopper at shortstop was by throwing Letterman a tough one-hopper at the plate.

Letterman blocked the plate and handled the bounce perfectly before tagging out the runner for the second out.

“I was scared about that,” Capoccia said, “because I threw it really bad.”

Capoccia later redeemed himself. He hit his third home run of the tournament. It was a solo shot to center, giving the Red Sox a 4-0 advantage in the fourth.

“We had a good lineup,” said Dodgers Coach Bob Marshall, whose son Landon came into the game with 12 homers while Sojka had 10 homers. “Costa Mesa played well. We couldn’t get anything going.

“They’re the favorites because they’re going to throw their ace. That guy is legit.”

Capoccia will start the title game. He plans to use his 85-pitch limit against the Ocean View Mets, who advanced to the title game after beating the Seaview Little League Giants, 3-2, Thursday.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.