Bat Rays 17th in Cooperstown

The Newport Beach Bat Rays’ Ben Humphreys hit 10 home runs in six games during the Cooperstown Dreams Park Tournament in New York last week.

Humphreys had two consecutive games where he hit three home runs including a grand slam in each. In Wednesday night’s first playoff game, the Bat Rays were up 11-2 in the fourth inning when Humphreys’ walk-off grand slam ended the game by the mercy rule.

The Newport Beach Bat Rays Blue team finished in a tie for 17th out of the 104 teams in the 12-year-old division from across the country.

The team went 4-2 in the preliminary seeding round, beating teams from Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. For their efforts, the team received byes in the first three rounds of the playoffs and played the Great Falls Nationals from Massachusetts Wednesday evening.

The Bat Rays jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on hits by Chad Redfearn, Max Kline and Humphreys’ first home run of the evening. The team added five more runs in the second inning when Jake Hastings led off with a base hit and Ryan Maister hit a home run to score two. Additional hits by Parker Reposa, Logan Miller and Cameron Hook brought the score to 8-0. Mason McLaughlin and Christian Munson also recorded hits before Humphreys’ grand slam ended the game at 15-2.

The playoff win meant the Bat Rays played again at 8 p.m. the same night against the tournament’s No. 5 seed, the Connecticut Arch St. Cannons. Newport jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, despite Redfearn being hit by a 73 mph fast ball the first pitch of the game. Reposa had a single RBI to score Redfearn, who later had to leave the game for a contusion to his back.

Pitcher Humphreys recorded eight strikeouts in his four innings on the mound, but a series of Connecticut walks and hits combined with Newport errors brought the score to 7-1 going into the fifth. The Bat Rays refused to give up and after two consecutive walks, Humphreys and Reposa had RBI hits to bring the score to 7-4. A groundout double play ended Newport’s offensive momentum, but reliever Preston Ellis came into the bottom of the fifth and mowed down the Cannons, picking off the leadoff hitter and striking out the next two. In the top of the sixth, three consecutive plays by Connecticut’s second baseman ended the game and the tournament for the Bat Rays.

Other highlights of the week included home runs by Redfearn, Kline and Hook, and defensive “web gems” by Miller and Will Hinkelman. Redfearn and Reposa represented the Bat Rays and qualified for the finals in their respective competitions, “Golden Arm” (throwing accuracy) and “King of Swat” (home run derby).

The Newport Beach Bat Rays Blue team consisted of: Preston Ellis, Jake Hastings, Will Hinkelman, Cameron Hook, Ben Humphreys, Max Kline, Ryan Maister, Mason McLaughlin, Christian Munson, Chad Redfearn and Parker Reposa. The team was managed by Bat Rays founder Duane Hastings.