Huntington Valley, Ocean View meet for 9/10 title

Huntington Valley and Ocean View Little Leagues set up a best-of-three

championship series this week in the 9/10 Division by turning back

determined opponents in District 62 Little League All-Star Tournament

action.

Huntington Valley worked its way out of the loser’s bracket to earn a

date with Ocean View.

After falling, 10-0, to Robinwood in its opener, Huntington Valley

came back to wallop Costa Mesa National, 19-7. Alex Barnes finished with

two hits, Dave Folger and Tim Higgins doubled, Ryan Little pitched three

innings and Barry Luke, Alex Holtz and Nick Mazzone scored three runs

each.

Next came a meeting with Seaview. Huntington Valley found itself in a

3-1 hole heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, but rallied for a

thrilling 4-3 victory. Folger’s RBI single brought the score to 3-2 and

Higgins, with two out and two strikes facing him, was hit by a pitch,

forcing home the tying run.

Barnes threw a complete game and limited Seaview to five hits, and

then slapped a single down the right-field line to drive home the winning

run.

In Sunday’s second showdown with Robinwood, Huntington Valley’s magic

continued.

Cody Frame’s key RBI single in the first inning helped Robinwood take

a 3-0 lead. Phillips hit an RBI double in the fourth inning to make the

score 3-1. Folger then delivered the big hit, a three-run home run to

deep center field, which gave Huntington Valley a 4-3 advantage. Little’s

bunt single produced the fifth run, and he scored on a wild pitch later

in the inning for a 6-3 lead.

But Robinwood wasn’t finished.

In the bottom of the fifth, Tyler Rinker’s long home run over the left

field fence brought Robinwood to within 6-4. Then in the bottom of the

sixth, a double by Cody Stroud and singles by Rinker and Brian Frattali

made it a 6-5 game. But, with two outs and the tying run at second base,

Barnes, who had pitched the entire way, struck out the final batter end

Robinwood’s rally.

In other games:

Ocean View rolls to district finals

Ocean View advanced to the district final by defeating Westminster

twice in a four day period.

Michael Megill, Andrew Ragsdale and Jordan Maddox gave solid pitching

efforts as Ocean View won its first meeting with Westminster, 6-2. Ocean

View scored a single run in its first at-bat and added three more runs in

the second inning and never trailed.

Hitting highlights included Zack Dunbar with a two-RBI double in the

second inning, Cole Tischer with two hits and an RBI, Beau Amaral with

two hits and Zack Couey with a hit and RBI.

Couey (third base), Tischer (center field) and catcher Blake Cestr,

who threw out two runners trying to steal, paced Ocean View on defense.

In the team’s second meeting last Saturday, Ocean View clobbered

Westminster, 13-1.

Scoreboard

Ocean View 6, Westminster 2

Robinwood 9, Seaview 8

Westminster 6, Fountain Valley 2