Little League: Laguna All-Stars come up short
Two Laguna Beach Little League All-Star teams, the 9/10 and 8/9 squads, had their quests for division championships come to an end in the past week in District 55 All-Star Tournament play.
With the Laguna Beach Intermediate All-Star team previously having its postseason end June 20, the 2015 season is now complete for Laguna Beach Little League.
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9/10 Division
Laguna Beach won its tournament opener June 29 but later lost twice at Crown Valley Elementary School (Rancho Niguel Little League host) to fall from title contention.
Laguna’s initial tourney loss was a 19-5 setback July 2 to Laguna Niguel. On Tuesday, Laguna was defeated by Aliso Viejo, 10-5, in an elimination game.
Laguna was within 5-4 of Laguna Niguel going into the fourth inning before the game got away. Laguna also was tied (4-4) with Aliso Viejo heading into the fourth, and down only 5-4, heading into the fifth on Tuesday.
Laguna overcame nine strikeouts and eight outs recorded by the Aliso Viejo pitching staff and infield to stay in Tuesday’s contest.
Luke Machin pitched 4 2/3 innings for Laguna and “did a great job of throwing strikes and keeping the game close,” and Bryce Ford and Griffin Naess also pitched and “did a great job throwing strikes and giving us chances to make plays,” Laguna Manager Tom Reimers said.
Reimers also said his team received “outstanding defensive plays” from Bryce Ford, Brandon Britt and a 5-4-3 double play turned by Nick Bonn, Naess and Max Burchi.
Offensively, Laguna was led by Ben Reimers (two for three, run scored), Burchi (one for two, run scored), Naess (one for two, RBI, run scored), Blake Sullivan (RBI), and Shea Blanchard (one for one, run scored).
Naess hit a bases-loaded single in the second inning to bring in a run, and two more runs scored and Naess went to third when the ball got past the Aliso Viejo left fielder. Sullivan then drove in Naess with a shot to right field, and Blanchard started the fifth with a hit and went on to score “due to some outstanding baserunning,” Tom Reimers said.
Laguna had opened the tournament June 28 with a 15-8 victory over Lake Forest.
“I am proud of the way the team battled all tournament,” Reimers said. “Every single player made meaningful contributions to our tournament run. Ultimately, we were just a couple plays away from different outcomes in these last two contests, but that’s baseball.
“This is a special group of players for Laguna Beach Little League who will be making great things happen on the baseball field for many years to come.”
9/10 All-Star Team: Shea Blanchard; Nick Bonn; Brandon Britt; Max Burchi; Joey Capobianco; Bryce Ford; Boden Gillette; Jett Hamil; Luke Machin; Griffin Naess; Ben Reimers; Ryan Strickland; Blake Sullivan. Manager: Tom Reimers. Coaches: Steve Britt, Paul Machin.
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8/9 All-Stars
The tournament season for Laguna Beach reached its completion July 2 after a 21-3 loss to Newport Beach in an elimination bracket game at Las Lomas Park in Irvine (Irvine Ranch LL host).
Highlights for Laguna on offense came from Logan Pointon, who doubled and hit a three-run home run, Redmond Chesley doubled, Camden Dowers and Dylan McEachern both singled and scored, and Jack Gallo singled.
The loss ended a four-game run for Laguna in the double-elimination event.
Laguna started the tourney June 27 and cruised past Lake Forest, 14-2. A 7-0 loss to host Irvine Ranch in their second game didn’t deter the All-Stars, who bounced back for a 13-3 win June 30 to eliminate Northwood.
“Given the high level of competition, we feel good about our record of two wins and two losses,” Laguna Manager Chad Anderton said. “We, as a coaching staff, feel far better, though, about the way the kids competed, never quit, served as great teammates to each other and exhibited stellar sportsmanship. We really challenged them and they exceeded our hopes. We could not be more proud of them.”
8/9 All-Star Team: Cade Anderton; Sam Burchi; Redmond Chesley; Ben Dawson; Camden Dowers; Luke Fetzer; Jack Gallo; Gehrig Mackay; Dylan McEachern; Noah Neufeld; Logan Pointon; Jackson Rowley; Taylor Towe. Manager: Chad Anderton; Coaches: Orin Neufeld, Joe Mackay.
— From staff reports