Dodgers’ Roth towers above the competition

Chris Yemma

Towering above his teammates and virtually every opponent he faces,

A.J. Roth has the physical stature that old-school baseball scouts

look for.

Six feet tall and a lean 156 pounds, he has that appearance of a

gifted baseball player. So how many scouts were at a recent game he

played in, you ask?

None. He’s 12, and scouts don’t normally attend Little League

games.

“His size has to be some type of intimidating factor,” said Kirk

Stone, coach of the Costa Mesa National Little League Dodgers, of the

Majors division. “It took a long time for us to get going because his

teammates were intimidated by him.”

Roth was instrumental in sparking the Dodgers to a 10-8

championship-game victory against the Giants Wednesday at TeWinkle

Middle School. He went 3 for 3 at the plate with a home run, a triple

and a double to account for six RBIs.

Normally the team’s pitching ace, the St. John the Baptist

seventh-grader played shortstop before being called upon to induce

the last out from the mound.

Roth’s championship-game performance was reflective of his entire

season, as he led the Dodgers in almost every game with his slingshot

arm and potent bat.

“He’s the complete package,” Stone said. “He’s the fastest,

smartest, biggest player on the team.”

And his size equates to power, which was evident the first day of

practice.

Stone, who used to pitch for Estancia High back in the early

1980s, said Roth was hitting his pitches over the fence the first

time he threw to him. It was only after Roth nailed one back and

almost hit Stone in the face that he put up a batting-practice

screen.

Roth said his first few days in practice made a lasting impression

on his teammates.

“It was kind of funny because I don’t think they’ve seen a

12-year-old do that,” said Roth, who plans to attend Mater Dei after

eighth grade. “I was hitting them almost 300 feet and [the team] was

pretty shocked.”

Roth’s first trip to the plate Wednesday resulted in a two-run

shot over the left-field fence, bringing home Matt Carlyle from third

for a 2-0 Dodgers’ lead in the bottom of the first. And his two-run

double in the fourth helped cap a six-run inning that gave the team a

10-4 lead.

It was Roth who got the nod to seek the last out from the mound,

after the Dodgers had trouble getting the last out with the Giants

creeping back.

The final out was recorded when a Giants baserunner was tagged out

trying to steal second base.

Roth was all business after the game.

“I was just trying to get it over with to win the championship,”

he said. “It’s great because this is my first one.”

The seventh-grader’s size has helped him become a natural leader,

but it’s his skills that have earned his teammates’ admiration.

“[My size] helps with my leadership,” he said. “I lead by example

and they look up to me.”

And it’s the total package that has his coach pleased.

“He’s an amazing player,” Stone said. Other contributors for the

Dodgers were Kevin Carvajal, Conner Gilligan, Collin Kincaid, Brody

Hensheid, Scott Wagner, Derek Andrews and Jake Spielberger.

Contributors for the Giants were Daniel Degree, Raymond Holmes,

Victor Trujillo, Sean Lagotic, Kyle Orton, Brodie Pearce, Nick

Schirmer, Nico Ruan, Andres Hernandez, Riley Schoneman, Juan Valdez

and Conner Graham.

The Dodgers advance to the District 62 Tournament of Champions.