Cal Padres

The Manhattan Beach Boys battled hard to the very end, but lost a heartbreaker to a very strong Lunada Bay team by a score of 9-2. It was a great experience for the boys, coaches and families. Lunada Bay jumped out front with well placed hits to the opposite field in the first inning. Manhattan Beach battled hard, and brought the score to 4-1, in the top of the 4th, on an RBI single by Michael Mullahey. In between, RB shut them down with a deceptive mix of fastballs and off-speed pitches. But Lunada Bay put 5 runs on the board in the bottom of the 4th on a walk, three singles and a double. Fighting hard to the very end, MB added a run in the 6th on an RB double and an error. But warning track shots by Gordon Cardenas and Ryan Erickson were hauled in to end the threat. The Manhattan Beach 11s distinguished themselves with slick fielding, solid fundamental play, an aggressive attitude at the plate and pitchers that refused to give in to opposing hitters. The Manhattan Beach 11s also represented the city well with good sportsmanship. All the boys raised the level of their game and will be better players in the next spring season. The 11-year old District tournament only includes the elite teams in the District and the 2nd place finish speaks well for our boys. Every victory is hard earned in this tournament. All the Managers and Coaches were extremely happy with the boys' attitude, effort and team chemistry. It was an honor to be their coaches. Mark Macdonald ______________________ Baseball can be cruel. Sometimes you hit the ball well, but it goes straight to a fielder. That was pretty much the story for the MB 11-year old All Stars. They battled hard and were within striking distance in the top of the 6th at 3-1. In the end, it wasn't their day. There is always tomorrow, and in this case even more, as the 11-year old stars can win the District Championship with a win on Sunday. The MB 11-year old All Stars seem to like suspense, so we suspect this is all a ploy to play another game. The Lunada Bay team is good and it will be a great game. Game time is 1pm at the Rolling Hills Little League field. Mark Macdonald ____________________ It was a classic Little League baseball. Parents stressed out in the stands (see Laura Inlow).....boys relaxed and having fun in the field. Little League baseball is beautiful to watch when it is played well and it was played well by both the MB and Lunada Bay teams. The final score was 5-4. Lunada Bay jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Ryan "RB" Barney in the top of the 1st inning on 2 singles, a walk, and a double. The inning was saved as 3rd baseman Ryan Erickson threw a runner out at 1st on a bunt attempt with 1st baseman Kevin Inlow quickly throwing home to catcher Ian McLoughlin for the tag and the double play. RB has always had tough first innings, though, so the MB boys were not concerned. RB settled down and threw scoreless baseball over the next three innings. Meanwhile, the MB bats came alive with an RBI single from Ryan Erickson in the 1st, and two runs in the 2nd on an RBI sac fly from RB and an RBI single from Gordon "Gordo" Cardenas. In the bottom of the 4th, RB singled and Ian McLoughlin doubled to move the MB 11s out front by a score of 4-2. In the top of the 5th, RB got the first out on a pop up to himself, but then tired and the next two batters singled. Kevin Inlow was brought into a tough situation, but retired the next two batters on a line out to 2nd baseman, RB, and a strikeout. In between, the Lunada Bay team scored another run on a wild pitch to make the score 4-3. In the bottom of the 5th, with one out, Kevin Inlow doubled into the right field sun field. An infield out moved Kevin to 3rd and brought Christian "C Mac" Macdonald to the plate. On a 2-2 count, with 2 outs, C Mac took an outside pitch to right field to drive in the eventual winning run. Proving the faith his Father had in him. The top of the 6th was still full of excitement. Kevin struck out the first batter. The second batter appeared to be out on an easy pop foul to 1st baseman Morgan Ascher, but he dropped the ball. That was the first error of the tournament for an MB 11 player. Eventually, that battered doubled into the right field gap. The next batter walked and it didn't look good for the MB 11s. But Kevin Inlow took charged and stuck out the next batter on a slider in the dirt. Unfortunately, that pitch skipped past catcher Ian McLoughlin and moved the score to 5-4 with 2 out and a runner at 2nd. The next batter popped a foul over 1st basemen Morgan Ascher's head who made a diving acrobatic catch.....redeeming himself and saving the day. This was truly a team victory, as the boys had to overcome the loss of CF/2B Christian Rogers to a broken thumb. You know a team is deep, when the 7, 8 & 9 batters produce 3 runs and an RBI. Zack Missioreck laid down a beautiful bunt, which lead to an eventual run in the 4th. Michael Mullahey played flawless outfield and is "this close" to breaking out at the plate. Team fielding remains a strength, as Aidan Doyle, Gordo Cardenas, Kevin Inlow and Ryan Erickson all made great plays. RB went 2-2 with a sac fly, RBI and 2 runs. Gordo, Ian, Ryan Erickson, Kevin Inlow and Aidan added hits. Brett Clark drew a walk and scored a run. And C Mac walked, scored a run, and drove in the winning run. The MB 11s are off until 7-9 when they will face the winner of the loser bracket, which could easily be the Lunada Bay team. The game will be at 11am. Its a fun bunch of boys to watch, so please come out. Mark Macdonald _____________________________________________ On a night when their bats went cold, the MB 11-year old All Star team used pitching and fielding to pull out a gut wrenching win over Silver Spur. The final score was 3-2 with final out coming on a close play at the plate. The Silver Spur team battled hard using deceptive pitching and strong fielding to hang close. Ian McLoughlin pitched all 6 innings giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and 3walks. In the top of the 6th, with one out, Silver Spur batter David Rankin walked. Christian Rogers made a nice play on a shallow fly ball to right field....fighting the sun for the second out. That brought the Silver Spur clean-up hitter, Brandon Canky, to the plate. On a 3-2 count, he drove a ball just inside the 3rd base line. The ball got past the leftfielder Morgan Ascher who turned and ran the ball down at the fence meeting center fielder, C Mac, who was backing him up. He quickly turned and fired a relay throw to short stop Gordon Cardenas, who fired the ball to Ryan "RB" Barney the catcher, who applied a sweep tag for the final out of the game. MB got off to a fast start with 2 runs in the first inning on a double by RB and consecutive singles by Gordon Cardenas and Ian McLoughlin. But they left the bases loaded as Brett "Buzz" Clark's line drive to left centerfield was run down on a nice play by the Silver Spur center fielder. Silver Spur scored a run in the top of the 2nd to make the score 2-1 and it stayed that way until the bottom of the 4th inning. In the bottom of the 4th, Kevin Inlow started the inning with a single to right field. He stole 2nd and advanced to 3rd on an infield out. RB then singled to drive in the eventual winning run. In the field, Gordon Cardenas, Christian Rogers and Aidan Doyle all made great plays. RB, Gordon Cardenas and Ryan Erickson each had two hits. Morgan Ascher, Christian Rogers, Kevin Inlow and Ian McLoughlin added hits. In the end, it was truly a team victory as all the boys pulled together on a night when the stars were not aligned. With this victory, the MB 11-yearold boys are guaranteed to be one of the last three teams in the tournament. The road will get tougher, as they will need to face the strong PV and/or Lunada Bay teams. But these boys are tough and they are having a blast. Please come out to our next game on Friday night at 5pm. It will be versus the winner of the Lunada Bay/PV game. The Rolling Hills field can be tough to find, so please follow the directions below. Its great baseball and great fun. 1. Go south on Hawthorne Blvd. Past PCH and up the hill. 2. Turn Left at Rolling Hills Road. Rolling Hills Road will gradually curve from the east to the south. 3. At Palos Verdes Drive North, turn left and head east. 3. After turning onto PV Drive North, take a left at the first stop light into Dapplegray Elementary school. 4. As you turn into Dapplegray School, you need to take an immediate left onto an access road. You will see a sign on your right that says "Home Of Rolling Hills Little League." 5. Travel down the windy, rough, and narrow access road for approximately 1/2 mile. At this point you will think you have made a wrong turn. The Little League field is at the bottom of the canyon. Watch out for on-coming cars and horses. Here is the link from the RHLL web site. http://eteamz.active.com/rhll/locations/ ____________________________________ The MB 11 year-old Baseball All Star team won in a well played game versus Rolling Hills at the Rolling Hills field. The final score was 12-2 in a game that only went 5 innings because of the mercy rule. The MB 11y old All Stars had 13 hits and played error free ball. Ryan "RB" Barney pitched out of a tough bases loaded jam in the first inning and threw four scoreless innings until he tired in the 4th. Kevin Inlow came in and closed out the 5th. The MB All Stars were strong defensively with Aidan Doyle throwing a runner out at home and Gordon Cardenas making several nice plays at short stop. Ian McLoughlin was the hitting star going 4 for 4 with a double, 3 runs, and 4 RBIs. RB added 2 doubles and scored 4 runs, while Aidan Doyle went 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs. Ryan Erickson, Christian "C Mac" Macdonald, Gordon Cardenas and Morgan Ascher also had hits. The game ended on consecutive bases loaded walks to C Mac and Kevin Inlow. The MB 11-y old All Stars will play again on Monday night against Silver Spur at the Rolling Hills field. The game time is 5pm. The field is located off PV Drive North, near Dapplegray Elementary School. It is a beautiful location and the Rolling Hills families are great hosts. Please come out and cheer the boys on! --Mark Macdonald