Ocean View just keeps on winning

Most of the 9-10-year-old players on the Ocean View Little League All-Stars did not know who they would play against in a huge game Wednesday night. They didn’t care who the opponent was; they just wanted to keep on winning.

They’ve been doing that, putting them on the brink of a Sub-Division III championship. They have won twice and needed to win Wednesday night to clinch the title and advance to a championship matchup against the north sub-division winner this weekend. An OVLL loss would mean a rematch Thursday night.

OVLL’s run to the sub-division championship came from a courageous end to the sectional Section 10 tournament. The local All-Stars beat South Mission Viejo, 12-2, in five innings July 21 to force a winner-take-all game for the section title. OVLL won that game, 2-1, July 22.

The OVLL All-Stars opened the Sub-Division III tournament with a resounding 26-8 victory against Norco. They then took down a familiar foe in Rancho San Diego, 2-0, Monday.

Last year, Rancho San Diego beat OVLL twice in the sub-division tournament in San Diego, once in extra innings to eliminate the local All-Stars.

This year, the OVLL All-Stars were able to shutout Rancho San Diego, thanks to the pitching efforts of Nick Pratto (four innings), Hagen Danner (one inning) and Anthony Martinez (one inning).

Pratto and Martinez both also had multiple hits, and both had one RBI each.

“It just felt good to beat that team,” said Danner, who was on last year’s OVLL All-Stars team.

Rancho San Diego, which needed to beat Rancho Sante Fe Tuesday to face OVLL once again Wednesday night.

HVLL All-Stars done

The Huntington Valley 10-11-year-old All-Stars nearly won the Section 10 championship but lost in the finals.

They lost to Ladera Ranch. Needing to beat Ladera Ranch twice, HVLL won the first game, 10-8, July 21, but lost the second game, 9-7, July 22

In the final game, Sean Morrissey pitched four innings and Jordan Kirkenslager came in to pitch the last two innings for HVLL.

Justin Mazzone produced four of the team’s seven RBIs. Tanner Watson, James Morton and Hank Skolnick provided one RBI each.