News and Announcements
Game Highlights (3/1/14-3/30/14)
Majors
Yankees 9, Giants 7: Saturday, March 15
Yankees took their first win of the season in an exciting game against the Giants. Yankees were off to a great start with triples by Naeco Logan and Mauro Ballinas giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Second inning with Mathew Scully on base, William Brooks hits a home run putting two more on the board. Momentum keeps going in the third with a double from Ballinas and a RBI double from Luca Pantel driving the lead to 6-0. Giants rally in the fourth inning scoring two. Yankees not willing to give up scored three more off a double from Logan, a single from Ballinas, and another RBI double from Pantel. Giants come to the fifth inning swinging and the excitement heats up with a single from Anthony Capocciamo and a single from AJ Valle. In the sixth inning, Giants looked like they might take the game with a single from Mikey Ciara, followed by another single from Kai Marden, and another single from Valle bringing it close but the Yankees take the win, 9-7.
Minor A
Hot Rods 12, Rivercats 3: Monday, March 31
The Minor A Hot Rods' offense hammered seven extra base hits in a 12-3 win over the Rivercats Monday, March 31, in the regular season opener for both teams.
AJ Hurtado led t with a home run (his fourth of the year) and a double. Quentin Custodio added two doubles, and Gavin Kells, Ramon Lopez, and Aiden Hall contributed one each. Kells and Custodio both had a pair of RBI; and Hurtado, Hall and Jack Pirooz each knocked in a run. The Hot Rods' pitching flexed its muscle too, as Custodio, Hurtado and Kells gave up only three hits while striking out 12.
Ian Shafer doubled and Matt Arguello and Daniel Kotkosky both singled for the Rivercats. Kotkosky, Arguello and Bradley Navarro scored the Rivercats' runs.
Muck Dogs 5, Hot Rods 4: Saturday, March 29
The Hot Rods' AJ Hurtado blasted two mammoth home runs but it wasn't enough to overcome the Muck Dogs, 5-4. Hurtado smashed a solo shot in the first inning and belted another one-run homer in the sixth inning. His sixth-inning homer shaved the Muck Dogs' lead to 5-4. Hot Rods' Gavin Kells followed Hurtado's second home run with a long fly over the head of Muck Dog centerfielder Tristan Brinkman, but Brinkman picked up the ball quickly off the ground next to the fence and threw Kells out at second base to stall the Hot Rod comeback.
In the Muck Dogs' first at bat, Jimmy Legg led off with a single and scored, Zak Vuncannon doubled and scored, Chad Lux doubled and scored, Jaxon Potter doubled and scored, and Jaxen Phillips reached on an error and scored. The Muck Dogs didn't score after that as the Hot Rods' pitchers Ramon Lopez, Kells, and Hurtado held the Muck Dogs at bay the rest of the way.
Despite Hurtado's hitting feat, the Muck Dogs' Potter and Lux each pitched three effective innings. Hot Rods' Wyatt Smith and Lopez also scored runs for the Hot Rods. Lopez's run came on an RBI-single by Carson Webb.
Hot Rods 1, Stars 1: Saturday, March 22
In a game dominated by pitching, the Hot Rods and Stars tied 1-1. Hot Rod pitchers Quentin Custodio, AJ Hurtado, and Gavin Kells surrendered only one hit to the Stars (a single by Andrew Bentley in the sixth inning). The Stars' pitchers were even stingier as Cole Kenrich, Dylan Villanueva, Rizzy Collado, and Bentley combined to throw a no-hitter against the Hot Rods. The Stars struck first with one run in the first inning when Bentley scored. Hurtado scored the Hot Rods' lone run in the fourth inning.
Hot Rods 14, Rivercats 2: Wednesday, March 19
The Minor A Hot Rods scored at least one run in every inning it batted to route the Rivercats, 14-2. The win upped the Hot Rods' record to 3 and 2, and the Rivercats fell to 2 and 4.
The Hot Rods raced out of the gate with five in the first inning. The Hot Rods added a pair in the second, one run in the third, another in the fourth, and then busted the game wide open with five in the fifth inning. The Hot Rods didn't bat in the sixth since they were the home team and had the lead.
Myles Lopez led the Hot Rods' offense in hits (a single and a double) and runs (with three). Gavin Kells, AJ Hurtado, and Van Harmon each added two runs, and Quentin Custodio, Jack Pirooz, Ramon Lopez, Carson Jones, and Carson Webb each contributed one run.
The Rivercats managed only two hits against the Hot Rods' pitching. Ian Shafer collected both Rivercats' hits, including a double. Parker Brooks and Kyle Donoho scored the Rivercats' runs.
RedWings 8, Hot Rods 5: Saturday, March 15
The Red Wings jumped on the Hot Rods early and never lost the lead in route to an 8-5 win. In the first inning, the Red Wings (1-3-1) put four on the board as Kyle Palmer, Roman Cianca, Luke Kumaric, and Stone Gabriele each scored runs. The Red Wings garnered four hits in the inning, including a double by Cianca.
The Hot Rods (2-2) rallied back to cut its deficit to 5-4 after two innings, but the Red Wings' Jack Smith shut down the Hot Rods the rest of the way. Smith surrendered only one run on one hit in four innings, striking out nine. After the Red Wing first-inning burst, the Red Wing offense kept the pressure on the Hot Rods with runs by James Kent, Cade Haakenson, Juliko Polo-Nunez, and Smith. Kumaric had two hits on the day to lead the Red Wings in hits.
The Hot Rods' offense was led by AJ Hurtado who had two hits, including a home run in the first inning. Gavin Kells, Quentin Custodio, and Ramon Lopez also had hits. Jack Pirooz scored along with Hurtado (two runs), Custodio, and Kells for the Hot Rods. Hurtado also pitched three strong innings, fanning eight Red Wings and allowing only one it.
Hot Rods 14, Bats 2: Sunday, March 9
Homers by Quentin Custodio and Ramon Lopez fueled the Hot Rods to a 14-2 win over the Bats. Custodio, who ended the day with four hits, cleared the fences in the third inning and Lopez knocked his out in the fourth as the Hot Rods slugged their way to seven runs combined in the two innings. The Hot Rod barrage in the third and fourth also included a Custodio inside-the-park homer, a triple by Wyatt Smith, doubles by Lopez and AJ Hurtado, and a single by Carson Jones. The Hot Rod pitching was also running on all cylinders, giving up only two hits to the Bats. Hurtado struck out eight Bats and Custodio punched out another six.
The Bats' Evan Knipe limited the Hot Rods to just one run in two innings pitched, striking out five. The victory raised the Hot Rods 2-1 and dropped the Bats 2-1.
Iron Pigs 5, Hot Rods 3: Saturday, March 8
The Iron Pigs scored three runs in the third inning and held on to beat the Hot Rods 5-3 in the Iron Pigs' season opener. Both teams' pitchers kept the hitters in check, each team scratching out only four hits. The Iron Pigs' pitchers struck out ten with Jordan Cole leading the way seven. Hot Rod pitchers Gavin Kells and AJ Hurtado each sat down five Iron Pigs. Matt Fox led the Iron Pigs' attack with two hits and two RBI, and Jadon Tripp contributed two runs. The Hot Rods' offense was led by Hurtado and Quentin Custodio who both got extra base hits and scored a run. Hot Rods fell to 1-1 with the loss.
Hot Rods 4, Nuts 2: Saturday, February 22
Behind the fine-tuned pitching of AJ Hurtado and Gavin Kells, the Hot Rods edged the Nuts 4-2 to win what was the season opener for both teams on opening day for OVLL. Both pitchers threw three innings with Hurtado striking out seven batters and Kells fanning five more. The hard-throwing duo surrendered only one hit to the Nuts. The Hot Rods pitchers needed to be on their game, though, because the Nuts' pitchers kept the Hot Rods off balance most of the game allowing just five hits. Myles Lopez scored twice and Kells added two more for the Hot Rods. Quentin Custodio doubled and singled to lead the Hot Rods with two hits. He and Lopez both doubled in the third inning as part of a two-run third inning that gave the Hot Rods a 2-1 lead. The Nuts struck back with one in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 2-2, but the Hot Rods reponded with two in the bottom of the frame to take the lead for good. Cade Hart shined for the Nuts scoring one of the team's two runs, getting the Nuts' lone hit with a double in the fifth inning and allowing just a pair of runs in two innings. By OVLL correspondent.
Minor B
Dragons 7, Seadogs 6: Saturday, March 29
The Dragons came back once again for a walk off win in the bottom of the 5th innings against the Seadogs. The game started tight with both teams scoring 2 runs in the first. Owen Eisen and Carson Lane had singles to score runs for the Seadogs and Slater Lightcap and Peyton Perry had RBI’s for the Dragons.
The score remained tied until the 3rd when the Seadogs scored 3 runs, 2 coming on a Jake Pazanti double. The Dragons came back to tie the score in the bottom of the 4th with a 2 run triple by mason Valbuena.
In the top of the 5th and the Seadogs threatening to break the game open Braydon smith made a great defensive stop and throw to first to halt the Seadog rally. The Dragons then came up in the bottom of the 5th needing 2 runs to complete the comeback. Nico Ruiz started the inning with a walk, Slater Lightcap doubled him home to score the tying run and Peyton Perry completed the scoring with a RBI single to left.
A well-played baseball game by both teams.
Mudcats 8, Dragons 8: Saturday, March 22
The Dragons scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning to force a tie with the Mudcats.
The Mudcats started strong behind 3 solid innings of pitching from Connor Wood. Connor also had 3 runs scored and an RBI. Gavin Clarke had 2 hits, 2 runs scored and an RBI and Dillon Pozzebon had a double, a run scored and 3 RBI to pace the Mudcats offense.
Down 7 to 1 going into the bottom of the fifth, the Dragons scored 3 times, 2 coming on a Spencer baker double. Then in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dragons tied the game with 4 runs. With 2 outs Braydon Bewley started the scoring with a 2 RBI double to right. Then the Dragons loaded the bases and with the count full, Slater Lightcap was hit by pitch to make the score 8 to 7. The next batter, Peyton Perry, again with the count full, drew a walk to tie the game at 8.
An unbelievable and exciting finish to a well-played game by both the Mudcats and Dragons.
OVLL families,
This week, April 4-7, the Little League Baseball International Congress will convene in Minneapolis to discuss a variety of things such as policies and rules. One of the items on their agenda is a proposed “league age rule change” that calls for the league age cutoff date to be extended to Dec. 31.
What this means… the league age will be whatever age your son/daughter will be in that season’s calendar year (Jan. 1- Dec. 31).
Example 1 – If your child turns 10 this year between May 1 and Dec. 31, he/she is considered to be league age 9 this year. Next year, if the proposed rule change goes into effect, he/she will be considered to be league age 11, since your child will turn 11 between May 1 and Dec. 31.
Example 2 – Kids that turn 3 in Dec. will now be eligible for our 4 year old Wee Ball division (remember, the new league age is whatever you child turns that year). Being as involved in the lower divisions as long as I have, I can confidently tell you that this division will not be here next year, as most of the kids available under current age guidelines will be 5 next year, not 4. The ones eligible will only be 3 years old! (Absurd… some kids are still in diapers!).
To summarize how the rule change will impact us:
Ø It takes one year of Little League away from your child – 66% of our entire population
Ø It eliminates two of our age groups – Wee Ball division and 12 year olds of Majors division
Ø Most players will never reach the age Little League restricts them to be
Ø 20% of our potential players will not be allowed to play – 1 out of 5 players
Ø This will financially cripple our league, not to mention the leagues with small populations
My son is league age 10 this year, but will be considered league age 12 next year (as an 11 year old) under the new rule – he will lose an entire year of Little League. After I explained the new rule to him, he said, “That’s not fair dad! I can remember since Tee Ball thinking about Majors. Majors is everything me and my friends have been waiting for.”
Why would Little League want to kick 12 year olds out of what is, for more than 90% of them, their last year of Little League and youth sports? It occurs to me that this is when they need it most!
It has been said that the intent of the rule change is to eliminate having 13 year olds play in Majors post-season (aka International LL tournament leading to the LL World Series). HELLO, the percentage of kids still playing baseball at that time of the year is so small; it is astounding that they would change the rule for the “one in a million” while tossing aside the rest.
I urge you to join me in writing Little League Baseball and tell them not to change the league age rule. Feel free to express your personal reasons or re-state the obvious that this proposed rule change serves no purpose other than to take away a very special time in the lives of kids and families.
Send your emails by April 4, when the LLBI Congress convenes. You may send to:
Stephen Keener, President
Little League Baseball International, care of:
Scott Rosenberg Public Relations/LLBI Congress srosenberg@littleleague.org
Dave Bonham, Asst. Director, Western Region Headquarters dbonham@littleleague.org
Brian Pickering, Asst. Director, Western Region Headquarters bpickering@littleleague.org
Sincerely,
Toby Reece
OVLL President
Date Time Field Home Away
Sun Mar 09 10:30AM Major Yankees RedSox
Minor A Stars Express
Minor B Seadogs Naturals
3:30PM Minor A Knights IronPigs
Minor B Mudcats Thunder
***1:00PM Major Pirates Marlins
Minor A Bats HotRods
Minor B Mets Blue Wahoos
***Regularly scheduled 3/9 games.
Lower Division
Date Time Field Home Away
Sun Mar 09 9:00 AM MinC Lugnuts Grasshoppers
9:00 AM Farm Huskies Trojans
9:00 AM Tball Tar heels LSU Tigers
10:30 AM Tball Barons Lions
11:30 AM MinC Riverdogs IronBirds
11:00 AM Farm Anteaters Titans
11:45 AM Tball Chargers Oilers
1:00 PM Farm Hurricanes Bruins
1:00 PM Tball Vikings Seahawks
2:00 PM MinC Bees TinCaps
2:30 PM Tball Wolverines Fighting Irish
3:00 PM Farm Dirtbags Waves
4:00 PM Tball Jayhawks Crimson Tide
