Well-deserved A’s for effort

Bryce Alderton

It was an accomplishment for the Costa Mesa American Little League

Majors division A’s just to reach Saturday’s quarterfinals of the

District 62 Tournament of Champions at Mile Square Park.

Entering the season, the A’s had only two players who had competed

in Majors. The rest moved up from Minor A and B divisions.

Manager Rick Luna and coaches Frank Galvez and Mike Moran stressed

all season the importance of attitude and effort.

Mesa wasn’t about to back down Saturday against the Huntington

Valley Dodgers, despite trailing, 9-1, heading into the top of the

sixth inning. Back-to-back RBI doubles by Martin Myszynski and

Brandon Lewis cut into the deficit and the A’s ended on a swinging

note in the Dodgers’ 9-3 triumph.

The A’s (4-20) reached Saturday’s contest with a 7-3 victory over

Westminster Thursday. In that game, Costa Mesa scored six runs in the

fourth inning, which Luna said included hits from Brandon Kelly,

Logan Benter, Timmy Miller and Myszynski. Cody Hanify and Chandler

Burton reached base to start the rally.

Kelly, who along with Myszynski played in Majors last season,

tossed a complete game against Westminster and started at shortstop

against the Dodgers.

The A’s are one of two teams -- the Angels are the other -- in

Costa Mesa American, so they automatically qualified for the

Tournament of Champions, which takes the top two teams from each

league. The A’s played a majority of their games against Costa Mesa

National foes.

The Dodgers (12-7) finished second in their league.

Benter greeted them with a single to open Saturday’s game.

The A’s took a 1-0 lead in the first on Miller’s RBI double to

center field to plate Jordan Myers, who reached on a fielder’s choice

and scored from second. Myers veered slightly to his right to elude

the tag of Dodger catcher Megan Feuerstein and slide across the

plate.

Myszynski started on the mound for the A’s and held the Dodgers

scoreless for the first two innings, escaping trouble each time.

The Dodgers had runners at second and third with one out in the

first, but Myszynski induced a popout to Benter, the catcher. First

baseman Miller then made a sliding grab on the infield grass to snare

a meek bloop off the bat of Robby Olson.

The Dodgers had the same scenario in the second, but Myszynski

escaped the jam with one of his three strikeouts for the second out,

before Frankie Fardlow caught a fly ball to left.

After the first, Dodgers’ starting pitcher Olson settled down,

retiring the side in order in three of the next four innings. After

Miller’s hit in the first, Olson retired 14 of the final 15 batters

he faced. Myszynski’s one-out single in the fourth was Olson’s only

blemish during that span.

Olson allowed one run, three hits and one run while striking out

six and walking one in five innings.

“That was Olson’s best game of the season,” Dodgers’ Manager Jim

Kiser said.

Dodger bats awoke for four runs in each of the third and fourth

innings.

Five straight hits to start the third and four straight to open

the fourth set the stage for the heart of the Dodger lineup. The Nos.

2, 3 and 4 hitters for the Dodgers scored seven of the nine runs.

Those three, plus the No. 6 hitters finished a combined 10 for 16

with eight RBIs.

Joshua Huffstetler was the Dodgers’ hitting star, booming his

ninth and 10th home runs of the season. He was 4 for 4 with three

runs, four RBIs, a triple and a double.

The A’s worked in some noteworthy defense in the third and fourth

innings. Benter threw out a runner trying to advance to third on a

wild pitch in the third and Lewis, playing third, ended the fourth

with a diving stab of a foul pop near the entrance to the Dodgers’

dugout.

Lewis’ hard-nosed play came forth again in the fifth when he

gently bumped Benter, who pitched the fifth, as the two landed on the

dirt in an unsuccessful attempt to catch a foul pop.

Mesa’s two-run sixth began with a one-out walk to Benter. He took

second on a wild pitch and took third on a groundout.

Myszynski then doubled to right to plate Benter. Lewis followed

with a rip into the gap in left-center field to plate Myszynski.

Before the next pitch was thrown to Fardlow, Lewis alertly slid

into third after catching the Dodger pitcher off guard.

The A’s also received contributions this season from Idren Luna,

Marco Piazza and Joseph Raus.

After the final out, the Dodgers posed for a team picture in

shallow right field. The loss didn’t appear to dampen their spirits.

Teammates laughed together. Some needed to nudge their way to an

opening while others stood tall with arms crossed in a “tough guy”

manner.

The A’s toughness could hardly be questioned after this game, Rick

Luna said.

“We succeeded with what we set out to do, and that is play hard

baseball for six innings. We never gave up,” Luna said. “A lot of

people thought we would lose, 20-0, at this point, but we stayed in

the game and that is an accomplishment.”