Dodgers knocked off game

Steve Virgen

The beginning proved to be a critical point in a quarterfinal game

between the Costa Mesa National Little League Dodgers and the

Robinwood Angels in the District 62 Majors division Tournament of

Champions at LeBard Park Saturday.

The Dodgers, the designated visiting team, appeared to have

started out splendidly when Josh Dominguez led off with a single to

right. But Angels starter Mitch Huffman retired the next three, on a

strikeout and two infield pops.

Robinwood seemed to have capitalized on its momentum in the bottom

half of the first.

The Angels scored three runs, all unearned. The Dodgers could not

recover and lost, 6-0.

“Unfortunately, I hate to say it, but I think that [first inning]

set the tone for the boys,” Dodgers Manager Clint Brown said. “That

did get to them. It was hard for them to bounce back from that.”

The Angels’ shutout victory erased a quality pitching effort from

the Dodgers’ A.J. Roth. The 5-foot-8 right-hander recorded 12

strikeouts, walked three and threw 17 first-pitch strikes. He struck

out the side in each of the first three innings. He scattered just

four hits.

“[Roth] didn’t get much help,” Brown said. “We had some pretty bad

errors. We had some calls go against us and that upset me a bit. But

that’s Little League baseball. You’re going to get volunteers behind

the plate, calling balls and strikes, fair and foul. That’s the way

it happens.”

The Dodgers committed two errors in the first. One Angel run

scored on a passed ball, another runner scored on a wild pitch.

Angels’ leadoff hitter Chris Schaaf, who hit a ground ball to the

shortstop, reached on a two-base throwing error. He scored on

Huffman’s double to the gap in left-center field.

The Angles scored another unearned run in the second and added

single runs in the third and fifth.

The Dodgers had two hits, as they were mostly controlled by

pitchers Huffman and Henry Owens. Dominguez and Eric Mickelson had

one hit each for the Dodgers. Roth, Josh Hill and Tyler Sullivan

reached on walks.

Costa Mesa left two runners on base in the fourth and again in the

fifth. In both innings, the Dodgers had runners on first and second

with one out, but Owens, a lefty, struck out the next two batters.

“I wasn’t impressed with any of our play,” Brown said. “We just

did not play our game.”

Brown, however, took pleasure in the Dodgers’ season this year.

“We had a fantastic season,” he said. “We played good, solid

baseball. We had a great run.”