Ocean View returns home, gets reprimanded, yet blasts Arizona, 14-3

Mike Sciacca, Independent

The Ocean View Little League Major Division All-Stars rolled back

into town last Friday morning, hoping to get a brief respite from the

hoopla surrounding the 2000 Little League Western Regional tournament.

The Ocean View entourage left San Bernardino early Friday, and arrived

back on its home playing field in Huntington Beach sometime around 9:30

a.m. They left the players compound for cooler grounds - and sanity’s

sake.

“This has been some ride so far!,” Ocean View Manager Yun Conger said

upon his team’s return home from the Inland Empire. “There is so much

going on there (San Bernardino) that sometimes, it’s hard for the kids to

concentrate.

“We brought them back home for a brief rest from everything. I know

that we’re not supposed to do that (leave the complex), but we wanted

them to get a feel for home again, to get a home-cooked meal and

experience cooler weather. We want them to get back into a baseball

mentality. This has all been fun, but we want our kids focused. We’ll

have them ready.”

Although Conger was reprimanded by Western Regional officials upon his

team’s return to the tournament complex (teams are required to stay on

tournament grounds for the duration of the regional, and another rules

violation, Conger was told, would result in Ocean View’s ban from

Williamsport, Pa., should they advance to the Little League World Series

as Western Regional champion), Ocean View was more than ready for Canyon

Del Oro of Arizona on Saturday.

A combination of a high-octane offense, outstanding pitching, and a

shaky start by the opposition, paved the way in a 14-3 rout before a

massive gathering of 9,042.

Chris Palmer’s RBI single highlighted a 3-0 start by Ocean View, which

padded its lead in the fourth inning on a three-run home run by Jeff Van

Doornum, and a two-run home run by Palmer.

While the home runs by Van Doornum and Palmer put the Ocean View

faithful in a frenzy, it was Hank Conger who cemented the win, his grand

slam in the fifth inning giving Ocean View a 14-1 advantage.