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July 12: Will Proctor might have been bloodied in the pre-game, but never came close to being bowed, pitching a five-hit gem to lead the Manhattan Beach 9-10 Baseball All-Stars to a 2-1 victory over El Segundo to take the District 36 title Thursday night. The team’s youngest player, Proctor was unfazed after attempting to stop an errant warm-up throw with his nose, bloodying both ball and his face. His opponents may well have wished him worse for that wear, as Proctor dusted himself off, ascended the mound, and shut El Segundo out over five innings of masterful work. "I wanted to keep pitching," an ebullient Proctor said after the game. "Before the game, I was just thinking about pitching strikes, and that’s kind of what happened." It had been years since Manhattan Beach Little League could claim a District championship, but this was to be a special night as both the 9-10 Baseball All-Stars and the 10-11 Baseball All-Stars took District 36 titles within hours of one another. "This feels very, very great. It’s really unbelievable," noted an enthusiastic Kyle Grafton of the 9-10 All-Stars squad. "We now get to play at our home field in Manhattan Beach for the Sectionals, and it’s great to be coming home as the District champs." The 9-10 Sectionals tournament begins this Saturday at the Marine Complex with an early 10 a.m. contest, followed by the MB Lumber Company taking the field for its first Sectionals game at 1 p.m. Manhattan Beach went up 1-0 in the top of the first when lead-off man Duncan McKinnon singled the second pitch of the game sharply down the third base line. El Segundo starter Noah Stone, who was equally as impressive as Proctor, hit Will Deseran in the helmet two pitches later to advance McKinnon to second. Catcher Jason Clebowicz then singled to left, loading the bases with nobody out and threatening a big inning. But then clean-up hitter Dylan Tyrer sky-ed a pop-up in foul ground to the third baseman, and left fielder Zack Loversky grounded to second with a fielder’s choice that scored McKinnon. In a heads-up play, El Segundo first baseman Alex Rios threw the ball quickly to second base, catching Clebowicz who had strayed from the bag for an inning-ending double play. El Segundo came back in the bottom of the first with singles by Lars Noosbaar, Dean Abramson and Nick Karsseboom saddled around two foul-pops to third. With two outs, Proctor enticed Griffin Martes into a ground out to short to end the threat with no runs in and three men left on base for El Segundo. Manhattan Beach threatened again in the second with a single, fielder’s choice and Stone’s second hit batsman of the contest, but Stone got Duncan McKinnon to fly out to the centerfielder to end the inning without any runs. Proctor began to cruise at that point, setting the El Segundo line-up down in order in the second, and then giving up only one hit in another scoreless third. Manhattan touched Stone for one unearned run in its own half of the third, when Will Deseran singled and then advanced to second on a throwing error by the right fielder and then another error on the shortstop left him atop third with nobody out. He scored when Clebowicz hit the next pitch into left field for an RBI single. Kyle Grafton forced Clebowicz at second; Zack Loversky advanced Grafton with a single; and Mitchell Myer hit a soft liner to shortstop Lars Noosbaar to end the inning. Proctor began the fourth with a strike out, but then yielded a single to catcher Griffin Martes, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. Proctor walked pinch hitter Zack Edwards on four pitches and appeared to be tiring. The next batter Joey Garza forced Proctor into a full count, but Proctor retired Garza with a high fastball strikeout and got the next hitter, Tanner Stevens, to force out Edwards in a grounder to shortstop McKinnon. Manhattan Beach, meanwhile, went down relatively quietly in its own fourth and fifth innings, as Grafton was the only one to break through with a single just behind the bag at third base to dislodge the monkey riding his back for the prior few games. Proctor took a 2-0 lead into the fifth, when he would face the top of the El Segundo order. He walked lead-off man Alex Rios, who was immediately eliminated at second on a subsequent bounce-back to Proctor, the pitcher. With one away and a man on first, Proctor walked El Segundo third baseman Dean Abramson. That was it for Proctor, as Manhattan Beach went to reliever Dylan Tyrer to try to get the next two hitters and preserve the lead. Tyrer went 0-2 on the first batter, clean-up hitter Noah Stone, but then saw a nice 3-2 offering called ball four to send Stone to first. Nick Karsseboom rapped a clean single up the middle to score Noosbaar and log the one blemish to Proctor’s score sheet. Duncan McKinnon relieved Tyrer, who switched to the catcher’s position, sending Jason Clebowicz to shortstop. McKinnon struck out the next batter, and then Noah Bergren bounced what looked like a sure single over the outstretched glove of the third baseman, but Clebowicz made a strong play to get to the ball, throw to third and force the lead runner to retire the side with no more damage. Manhattan Beach went one-two-three in its top half of the sixth, setting up a dramatic one-run ball game and last opportunity for El Segundo. Ben Holt lined the first pitch from McKinnon hard to right field, but right at Will Proctor who made the catch. Pinch hitter Tanner Stevens bounced a 1-2 pitch to Manhattan Beach second baseman Nathaniel Johnson, setting up the final hope for El Segundo in the form of always-dangerous lead-off man Alex Rios. Rios jumped on the first pitch, but the fly ball settled into the waiting glove of left fielder Zack Loversky for the final out, and the Manhattan Beach celebration – and march onto the Sectionals – was on. In a true sign of sportsmanship, and the tone Manager McKinnon sets for his team, Loversky went to Rios and bumped fists as a measure of consolation and mutual respect for a hard-fought three-game championship series. Manhattan Beach took the first game of the series 11-7 and then El Segundo came back to take the second 10-5. With Manhattan Beach’s 2-1 victory in the third and rubber game of the contest the teams wound up scoring the exact same number runs, 18-18, over the three-game tilt. Winning Manager Mike McKinnon, coaches Chuck Myer and Mark Deseran, were joined on the post-game field by Manhattan Beach Vice President of Baseball Mark MacDonald who had customized District Champion shirts for all of the coaches and boys. McKinnon handed out candy cigars, and the entire squad took a well-deserved victory lap around the outfield, carrying the District 36 championship banner, as the El Segundo parents, coaches and team also applauded. "Good luck in the Sectionals," the El Segundo announcer shouted, "You’ll be representing us all." __________________________________________________________________________________ July 10: El Segundo Holds off Manhattan Beach 9-10 Baseball All-Stars to Force Deciding Game By Max Mercy The Manhattan Beach 9-10 Baseball All-Stars went to a 0-2 count on the El Segundo lead-off man in the top of the first, only to have Alex Rios single sharply to left in what was certainly a premonition to the rest of the game. Manhattan Beach came into the contest having defeated El Segundo Sunday afternoon to send them to the consolation brackets, meaning El Segundo had to play Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to have any hope of the District 36 championship. But El Segundo was more than up for the challenge, getting timely hits and scoring six runs with two outs in the top of the third to break the game open 9-1. The early advantage proved too much for Manhattan Beach, which battled back with a spirited relief performance by pitcher Ryan Verbeist, who locked up the El Segundo bats for the entire second half of the game. El Segundo starting pitcher Dean Abramson was equally as formidable for the game’s first half, holding the dangerous Manhattan Beach Lumber Company to only one run on one hit through the first three innings. Manhattan Beach starter Will Deseran worked several long pitch counts, but was touched for only three runs through the first two innings, and got the first two outs to begin the third. But then El Segundo broke it open with a five-hit, six-run barrage as two singles, wrapped around an error, loaded the bases for lead-off man Rios who delivered a long double over the leftfielder’s head to bring everyone home. El Segundo followed with another two singles, scoring two more, and Deseran ran out of steam and the maximum 75-pitch limit at the same time. He was relieved by Will Proctor, who came in and pitched one pitch, enticing El Segundo’s Noah Stone into the elusive third out when he grounded to second baseman Nathaniel Johnson. Manhattan Beach could not answer back in the bottom of the inning, going one-two-three and looking for all intents and purposes as if El Segundo was going to pad its lead and cruise to a lop-sided win. But then Ryan Verbeist – who had yet to pitch in the tournament – took the mound. Verbeist carried Manhattan Beach the rest of the way, giving them at least an outside opportunity to bounce back, as he allowed only one unearned run on two hits and three strikeouts for the rest of the game. That comeback began to materialize in the bottom of the fourth when Dylan Tyrer made his first trip to the plate and lashed a long double to right center. Mitchell Myer coaxed a walk, and Proctor grounded to short to force out Myer but score Matt Beuder, who was pinch-running for Tyrer, making it 9-2. Another Manhattan Beach error to begin the third put a man on first to open the fifth, and he ultimately came around on a single to make it 10-2, going into the bottom of the frame. Manhattan Beach’s one-man gang NJ Johnson opened the inning, popping out to the catcher Nick Karsseboom who made an outstanding catch in foul ground. Trying to shake things up, Manhattan Beach manager Mike McKinnon called for a bunt from his son Duncan, who executed perfectly and wound up on first base. Deseran followed with a single, and El Segundo starter Dean Abramson hit the maximum 75-pitch limit and gave way to reliever Alex Rios, who’d shut Manhattan Beach down the prior game. But catcher Jason Clebowicz greeted Rios with a single, loading the bases for the heart of the Manhattan Beach order. Clean-up hitter Ryan “Chief” Kawahara coaxed a walk to force in McKinnon, and then Tyrer worked the count full before drawing his own walk to force in teammate Deseran, making it 10-4 with the bases still full. Manhattan Beach first baseman Mitchell Myer tapped back to the pitcher Rios, however, who threw home to force Clebowicz with the second out, and the next batter struck out to end the inning. Rios then worked a scoreless sixth to preserve the El Segundo victory, allowing but only one hit to Manhattan Beach’s Johnson, who extended his tournament hitting streak to five games. Manhattan Beach and El Segundo will now tangle for the third and deciding game Thursday night at 7 p.m. at George Brett Field in El Segundo. Manhattan Beach took the first game 11-7 and El Segundo roared back to win the rematch 10-5, which promises a tight championship contest. __________________________________________________________________________________ July 8: Manhattan Beach 9-10 Baseball All-Stars to Play for District Title By Max Mercy Led by a clutch performance by shortstop-turned-reliever Duncan McKinnon, Manhattan Beach’s 9 and 10-year old Baseball All-Stars put seven runs on the board in the first two innings and held on to win 11-7 over a spirited El Segundo squad to advance to the District 36 tournament championship. McKinnon paced the Manhattan Beach attack with two runs scored in the first two innings, and came in to pitch with one out in the fifth in a one-run ball game. Taking over a 3-2 count to one batter, McKinnon enticed a ground out and then retired three of the next five to earn the save. “I didn’t really want to pitch,” McKinnon said after the game, “but it really felt good to get this win. I think we have a pretty good chance to win [the District championship] on Tuesday because we have a good team.” Dylan Tyrer started for Manhattan Beach, working one and two-thirds, allowing three runs on five singles. He was relieved by Bowen Boulliane, who made his third consecutive relief appearance. Boulliane pitched another solid two and a-third innings, giving up three runs on three hits. Neither Tyrer nor Boullaine trailed once their own teammates came to the plate. After allowing one run to begin the first, Manhattan Beach came back to plate three in the bottom of the inning, as El Segundo starter Lars Noosbaar walked the bases full and Tyrer’s squib single found eyes to pass first and drive in two en route to a 3-1 lead. Manhattan Beach fell one batter shy of hitting around in the second, as Matt Beuder, Nathaniel Johnson, McKinnon, Will Deseran and Boulliane all singled. But then El Segundo began chipping away, scoring once in the third and twice more in the fourth and once again to open the fifth, as El Segundo reliever Alex Rios quieted the Manhattan Beach bats. El Segundo came as close as 8-7 and threatened more in the fifth when McKinnon relieved Jason Clebowicz. Clebowicz was quite literally all over the field Sunday afternoon, beginning the game as catcher before hurting his hand and moving to left field. That led to a move to right field, back to catcher for a brief moment, on to pitch to begin the fifth, and then to shortstop to exchange places with McKinnon. En route, Clebowicz and McKinnon teamed on a brilliant play with El Segundo runners on first and third to end a threat in the fourth. The El Segundo runner on first broke for second, and Clebowicz came up firing. McKinnon cut the ball off between the mound and second base and fired back to Clebowicz at the plate to retire the man attempting to score from third. In one of the game’s other highlights, Boullaine came in to pinch run for Mitchell Myer who drew a walk to put two Manhattan Beach men on to start the bottom of the fifth. A wild pitch moved Boulliane to third, where Nathanial Johnson hit a sharp ground ball. Boulliane was caught off the bag but broke for home, with El Segundo attempting to catch him in a run-down. The ball went back and forth between catcher and third, pitcher and short covering third and then back to the catcher and third baseman once more. But the third baseman for El Segundo bobbled the ball for just a moment, and the quick Boulaine was able to score. It proved the difference as Manhattan Beach broke open a 8-7 contest in the bottom of the fifth, scoring another two runs behind Boulliane, and McKinnon worked a scoreless sixth to post a final 11-7 victory. Manhattan Beach's 9 and 10-year-old All Stars will play the El Segundo All Stars on Tuesday evening at 7:00pm at El Segundo’s George Brett Field. ___________________________________________________________________________________ July 5: Manhattan Beach 9-10 All-Stars Advance to District Winner’s Bracket Final By: Max Mercy El SEGUNDO, Calif. -- With the clock nearing 10 pm. Thursday night, Nathaniel “NJ” Johnson drove home teammate Matthew Beuder with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the final inning, propelling Manhattan Beach’s 9-10 All-Stars to a 4-3 win over a never-say-die Lunada Bay squad and into the winner’s bracket final in El Segundo Sunday afternoon. Beuder battled back from a 0-2 count with one out in the bottom of the sixth to lash a seeing-eye double down the leftfield line, bounding into second with a stand-up double. In what would prove the difference, Beuder advanced to third on the next pitch when Lunada Bay reliever Lance Brown bounced a wild pitch to the back stop. Beuder then scored when Johnson drove a 3-0 pitch into mid-centerfield to score Beuder by inches in a dramatic play at the plate. Johnson stands tall in having yet to have been retired in the entire District Tournament, going six for six with three walks and tonight’s game-winning sacrifice. “They were a very good team, but in the end, it came down to who was able to do the little things, and that’s really why we were able to win,” said Manhattan Beach starting pitcher Will Deseran, who drew a hard-luck no-decision after going four innings, yielding only one unearned run on two hits with three strikeouts. Lunada Bay entered the winners’ bracket semi on the heels of a convincing 7-0 shutout of Palos Verdes last weekend. Manhattan Beach entered the game having outscored its prior two opponents – Redondo Central and Hermosa Beach – by a combined 23-3 tally. Manhattan Beach jumped on top in the second, stringing together a two-out rally to bat around and score three. NJ Johnson knocked in two of the runs with a single and Duncan McKinnon had the other RBI with a sharp single to right. The Manhattan Beach defense proved to be reliable with three nice catches by centerfielder Zach Loversky and a beautiful force play at 2nd base from first baseman Mitchell Meyer to SS Duncan McKinnon to cut down the lead runner. As usual, Jason Clebowicz was steady behind the plate and did not allow a stolen base. Deseran cruised from there, allowing only one Lunada Bay single, only to have catcher Jason Clebowicz eliminate that runner trying to steal to end the second inning. But in the fourth, Deseran showed signs of tiring, walking Lunada Bay lead-off man Sam Crocker on four pitches, who came around to score on two throwing errors and a Deseran wild pitch. Manhattan Beach fireballer Will Proctor came on in relief in the fifth and struck out two of the three Lunada Bay players he faced. But Lunada rallied back in the final frame, as lead-off man Sam Crocker’s double and consecutive hits by catcher David McCann and starting pitcher Alex Lowe relieved Proctor of his mound duties. Manhattan Beach’s Bowen Boullaine came in to close his second straight game and shut the door on Lunada Bay’s rally, inducing a ground out and then striking out his two final batters, before Beuder and Johnson’s bottom-of-the-sixth heroics rewarded him with the hard-earned win. Manhattan Beach now faces El Segundo in the winner’s bracket final of the District Tournament Sunday at 1 p.m. at George Brett Field in El Segundo. El Segundo held on for a 16-15 win over Rolling Hills in the first game of the twi-night doubleheader to earn its place in the final. ____________________________________________________________________________________ July 2nd: MB 9-10 All-Stars Advance in El Segundo District Competition By: Max Mercy El SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Manhattan Beach’s 9-10 All-Stars rode the right arm of starting pitcher Dylan Tyrer and clutch hitting of second baseman Nathaniel Johnson to a workmanlike 11-1 victory over Hermosa Beach in an abbreviated five innings Monday evening. Manhattan Beach won its second District tournament game in as many outings by outscoring its opponent by more than ten runs before the sixth inning, and advances to play Lunada Bay Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at El Segundo’s George Brett Field. Tyrer (1-0) worked three scoreless, no-hit innings, notching six strikeouts before Hermosa Beach broke through in the top of the fourth with three hits to knot the score at 1-1 heading to the bottom of the inning. Hermosa’s Spencer Baklar, who had matched Tyrer with a one-run performance, finally yielded as the cool Manhattan Beach bats broke out for eight runs to end the frame. Second baseman NJ Johnson continued his torrid tournament hitting with a sharp single to center to lead off the bottom of the fourth, making him five-for-five in tournament play to date. Shortstop Duncan McKinnon followed with a bunt single on the next pitch, setting the table for catcher Jason Clebowitz whose single plated both teammates. Tyrer helped his cause with another long single to center, advancing Clebowitz to third and knocking out Baklar. New Hermosa pitcher Max Miller induced Manhattan outfielder Zack Loversky into a ground ball that found its way past Hermosa’s shortstop who – like many others throughout the evening – played hard luck with the waning sunlight and infield shadows. Pinch runner Ryan Verbeist scored on a pass ball, and Loversky came home when Bowen Boullaine singled sharply to center, advancing to second and then to third on successive wild pitches. Matt Beuder drew a walk and stole second, and Manhattan first baseman Will Proctor grounded to second, scoring the speedy Boullaine, with Hermosa’s Miller yielding the mound to Ben Verbrugge. After a walk to “Nails” Johnson, Verbrugge enticed McKinnon into a fly out to right to end the big inning. Tyrer left the mound for right field to begin the fifth, allowing only one run on three hits, two walks and six strike outs. Boullaine entered to retire three of the next four batters, allowing only one walk to Hermosa starting pitcher Baklar. Manhattan took up where it left off in the bottom of the fifth, as Clebowicz and Tyrer drew walks, followed by a run-scoring single by Loversky. Loversky moved into scoring position, and Tyrer scored immediately after on a wild pitch to make it 9-1. Boullaine walked and moved to second, and Proctor walked to fill the bases. Johnson – who’d begun the inning – came up yet again, and walked to force in another run and place the early ending in sight with the recently shorn Boullaine at third base. Boullaine, known for his long blond locks, earlier this week donated his hair to help people battling cancer and whose treatments cause them premature hair loss. Hermosa Beach went to the bullpen once more, only to have new pitcher Will Lauritson entice Manhattan shortstop McKinnon hit a soft grounder to short that again caught a glint of sunlight and forced Hermosa into an error to end the contest. Game star Johnson and pitcher Tyrer both remained unequivocal in summarizing the contest, saying they were pleased with the outcome but could improve their team performance with more consistency as tournament play moves forward. “It wasn’t our best game, but it shows that we’re a pretty good team because we rallied in the late innings,” Tyrer told this publication in an exclusive post-game interview from his home in Manhattan Beach. ___________________________________________________________________________________ June 30th: The MLL 9/10 All Star team started the District Tournament with a convincing 12-2 victory over Central Redondo in El Segundo on Saturday afternoon. El SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The game was well played by both teams, but the MLL Stars just had too many big bats and overwhelmed the CRLL Stars with seven extra base hits. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Duncan McKinnon lead off the game with a bunt single. After he was forced at 2nd base on a nice play by the CRLL shortstop, Jason Clebowicz drove home Will Deseran with a double. With two down, Zach Loversky walked, and Matt Beuder drove home Jason with an infield single. Mitchell Meyer drove home two more runs with a double and Kyle Grafton drove home Mitchell with an RBI single. A triple from Nathaniel "NJ" Johnson drove home Kyle and Duncan added a 7th run on a run scoring single. The MLL bats went silent until the bottom of the 3rd inning when back to back doubles from Dylan Tyrer and NJ lead to two runs. CRLL fought back with single runs in the 4th and 5th inning, but MLL added three runs in the bottom of the 5th inning by Dylan Tyrer, Will Deseran, and Jason Clebowicz to claim victory by virtue of the mercy rule. Starting pitcher, Will Deseran pitched three scoreless innings for the win and Jason Clebowicz and Bowen Bouilliane finished up the last two innings. The MLL 9/10 Stars play again on Monday night (5pm) versus Hermosa Beach at recreation Park in El Segundo. El Segundo Little League is a great tournament host and Recreation park is a beautiful facility. Please come out and cheer the boys on.