Cal Padres

The Manhattan Beach Minor All Stars took 3rd place in the District Tournament Saturday with a final game against Palos Verdes. With a score of 12-11 it couldn't have been a more exciting finish, even though the MB stars came up short. In the 5th inning Kevin Lopez hit a blast with the bases loaded and two out, but in true all star fashion, the PV outfield successfully pulled the ball down just shy of the outfield fence to end the inning. Exceptional defensive play by Grant Southwood, Jack Hadley and Corey Shono kept the MB team in the game and multiple RBI's from Lucas Alexiades and Greg Briskin were key. Cooper Griffith and Logan Goodman each contributed a couple of runs to the MB offense, while it was another notable pitching performance by Grant Chalmers, Greg Whitaker and Philip Prendergast and a solid game behind the plate by catcher Travis Bradford. Out of the 10 teams in the District tournament, the MB All Stars scored more points (59) than any other team in their six tournament games. The boys exhibited good sportsmanship and a high caliber of play throughout the tournament. We want to thank the coaches and the parents for their support and commitment to the boys during this past month of all star play. Every player on the team contributed to help make this a successful all star season and speaking for all the coaches, I can say it was an honor to spend time with this special group of boys! Thanks to our hosts in Redondo Beach and to MBLL for its support. Stephen Prendergast/Manager 9 & 10 Manhattan Beach Minor All Stars ______________________________ The MB Minor Baseball All Stars came out on top Thursday night against a strong Lunada Bay team by a score of 6 - 5. Originally the MB All Stars jumped out to a 5 run lead in the first inning, but even with consistent hitting they were unable to generate another run until the 6th inning. It was an interesting game, with sacrifice fly balls and infield fly balls raining down on two good defensive teams. A tremendous throw by Kevin Lopez from left field to second base for a force out ended an inning and stopped Lunada Bay from scoring. The MB All Stars generated 9 hits on offense and threw out 3 Lunada Bay runners at home plate during the game. At the top of the 6th inning, and even after solid pitching by MB aces Grant Southwood and Greg Briskin, things were not looking good for MB. The game was tied with 0 out and two Lunada Bay runners on base when Philip Prendergast took the mound. Philip struck out two batters and the first half of the inning ended with a third defensive out by the MB All Stars. The MB boys went on to see the winning run cross the plate in the bottom of the 6th for their third straight win in tournament play. Their next game is Saturday at Perry Park in Redondo Beach at 11am, please come out and support the boys as they take on a solid Palos Verdes team for the chance to play in the championship game Monday night. Stephen Prendergast ____________________ The MB Minor Baseball All Stars defeated the North Redondo All Stars Tuesday night 17-2 in 4 innings. The MB Stars allowed no earned runs, or hits, behind a solid pitching performance from Greg Whitaker, Corey Shono and Philip Prendergast. A game turning play was a right field catch by Lucas Alexiades on the run which stunned the North Redondo team and turned the momentum toward MB early in the game. Travis Bradford continues to catch every inning for the MB Stars and had another stellar game both behind the plate and on the bases. The MB All Stars have scored more runs than any other team in the tournament and prepare to play Rolling Hills on Thursday night at Perry Park, 6:30pm. Six of the ten teams in the tournament have now been eliminated. Stephen Prendergast ___________________________ The MB Minor All Stars won their game tonight 12-7 against El Segundo. Another great pitching performance by our left hander Grant Chalmers who went 5.5 innings before being relieved by Grant Southwood to close out the game. The game broke open when Cooper Griffiths hit a triple with the bases loaded to kick start the MB offense. A very wild and crazy game (as the score indicates) and our boys showed good poise at the plate throughout the full 6 innings. Our next game is against South Redondo on Tuesday July 5th at Perry Park, 7:30 pm. We hope to see as many MB fans as possible at this game as we move toward the end of the tournament. Thanks for your support of the MB Minor All Stars! Stephen Prendergast ____________________________ On Monday night the MB Minor All Star team lost to a very strong Silver Spur team by a score of 11-1. The game was tight through the first 3 innings, but several uncharacteristic errors by the MB team allowed Silver Spur to score several runs in the 4th. The MB Minor All Stars will play tonight versus El Segundo at 5pm. ____________________________ Here's a recap of the 9/10 year-old Minors Game against Hermosa Beach that took place Saturday 4:30pm. Our next game is today (Monday) at Perry Park in Redondo Beach at 7:30pm against (a reportedly tough) Silver Spur team. Would love to have you all there to help cheer the boys on! MB Minor All Stars won out over Hermosa Beach in 5 innings with a score of 12-2. This year, Hermosa offered up a strong pitcher. However, our MB boys lit him up with 13 hits in this game. Grant Southwood made a fantastic catch over his shoulder deep in center field and robbed HB of a big play. Grant Chalmers was a standout for us as the left hander pitched all 5 innings and kept them off the bases with only 1 earned run and 8 strike outs. Kevin Lopez threw a bullet from the outfield to help our catcher Travis Bradford successfully tag a runner at the plate. Great bunts from Cooper Griffiths and Lucas Alexiades helped us move players around and Philip Prendergast scored the winning run and hit .750 with 3 RBI's. Truly a team effort with great performances from Corey Shono, Greg Whitaker, Greg Briskin and Jack Hadley. Logan Goodman was flying around the bases with two runs scored as a standout pinch runner. Good luck this week and hopefully we'll see you at Perry Park! --Stephen Prendergast