Ocean View falls to S. Mission Viejo

HUNTINGTON BEACH --- Sometimes the curveball didn’t curve and went behind the Ocean View batter.

But, too often, it found the strike zone Sunday.

South Mission Viejo pitcher Wesley VandenBranden shut down the Ocean View bats for much of the day as South Mission Viejo posted a 5-1 victory in the Little League Section 10 9/10-Year-Old All-Star tournament.

South Mission Viejo advanced to the championship series Tuesday, while Ocean View will face Aliso Viejo tonight (Monday) at 5:30 p.m. at the OVLL Majors field in an elimination game.

Win tonight, and Ocean View would still need to beat South Mission Viejo both Tuesday and Wednesday to advance.

“We can count on facing [VandenBranden] again if we’re making it through this tournament,” Ocean View Manager Jeff Pratto said. “We’re just going to have to swing the bat.

“They outplayed us pretty much all the way through: pitching, fielding, hitting. But you know, I’m sure we’re going to come back [Monday] and put it all together again, and we’ll be seeing [South Mission Viejo] again on Tuesday.”

Ocean View, which had blanked Aliso, 15-0, in its opener on Saturday, also jumped ahead in the first Sunday. With two outs, Hagen Danner walked and he was tripled in by Nick Pratto.

But South Mission Viejo, unfazed, scored twic e in the third on back-to-back doubles from Joey Myers and VandenBranden, then a two-out RBI single from Kevin Brown.

Zeke Ziegler singled in the second for Ocean View. After that, the District 62 champs didn’t get another hit until Pratto and Justin Cianca had back-to-back singles with two outs in the sixth.

South Mission Viejo added to its lead with single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth.

Jeff Pratto said Danner would be eligible to pitch again Tuesday, and Nick Pratto on Wednesday if necessary. The starter tonight is expected to be either Anthony Martinez or Reid Sebby.