CMNLL Majors Division Fighting Irish edged in District 62 Tournament of Champions

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Through 2 2/3 innings, Ta’ita’i Grey-Uiagalelei only allowed two hitters to put the ball in play. The right-hander from the Costa Mesa National Little League Majors Division Notre Dame Fighting Irish team was throwing hard and not many could touch him.

Seven of the first eight outs against the Seaview Little League Brewers came via strikeout. Five struck out swinging.

Then Luke Jones came up to bat for the Brewers with two outs in the top bottom of the third inning. Two innings before, one of Grey-Uiagalelei’s pitches got away from him and he hit Jones in the back, right between the numbers. Jones went down in pain. He was in so much pain that the Brewers pinch ran for him.

Jones made sure to hurt Costa Mesa National on the next pitch he saw in the game.

The left-handed hitting Jones went the other way, hitting a solo home run to left-center field to break a scoreless tie in the third inning. Seaview added a second solo homer, this one by Kevin Andrus in the fourth inning, and it beat the Irish, 2-0, in the quarterfinals of the District 62 Tournament of Champions at Wardlow Park on Wednesday.

Behind five strong innings from Ethan Hennig, who struck out eight and allowed two hits and two walks, Seaview advanced to Thursday’s semifinals to play the winner between Ocean View No. 2 and Huntington Valley No. 1.

“It was a pitching battle for sure,” Seaview Manager Gary Eastham said of the matchup between his Brewers and the Irish. “We faced [Grey-Uiagalelei] all season long. He’s a tough pitcher. That’s why it was such a close game.”

Costa Mesa National threatened in the top of the first inning. Lucas Pacheco led off with a double to left field. He moved over to third base on Joshua Gordon’s groundout to Hennig. Costa Mesa National stranded the runner, as Hennig got the next two outs, one via strikeout and the second on an infield pop-up.

Grey-Uiagalelei found himself in a more precarious situation in the bottom half of the first.

After striking out the leadoff hitter, Grey-Uiagalelei gave up a single to Nick Daniel, then walked Hennig and plunked Jones, loading the bases. Grey-Uiagalelei got out of the jam by mowing down the next two batters.

The strikeouts kept coming for Grey-Uiagalelei. He fanned three in the second inning, giving Grey-Uiagalelei six strikeouts through two innings.

The first batter Grey-Uiagalelei faced in the third went down swinging on four pitches. Six pitches later, Hennig popped out to shortstop, marking only the second Seaview hitter to put the ball in play against Grey-Uiagalelei.

The next hitter for the Brewers put the ball out of the ballpark.

“He threw a fastball and I just got a hold of it and hit it out,” Jones said.

Costa Mesa National couldn’t hit one out, but it did manage to get one past the left fielder in the fourth inning.

JJ Kibin singled to left field, and advanced to second when the ball got away from the left fielder. Kibin didn’t stop there, as he motored to third, but center fielder Thomas Woodbury, who raced over to back up the left fielder, fired a strike to third baseman Emerson Evans, who tagged Kibin out.

“We tried to stretch it out and make something happen, and they made a perfect throw,” Irish Manager Chad Gordon said.

In the bottom of the fourth, Gordon replaced Grey-Uiagalelei, who struck out seven in three innings, while allowing two hits and three walks. One of those walks was to Andrus in the second inning.

Two innings later, Andrus was jogging around the bases. He homered to left field to extend the Brewers’ lead to two. The support was more than enough for Hennig and Evans, who pitched the sixth inning and struck out one, to combine for the two-hit shutout.

“That kid is a great leader,” Eastham said of Hennig. “He’s 12. He’s a seventh-grader. This is his last year of Little League, and he has been one of the best players in the division and just a really good kid.”