Laguna All-Stars keep battling

The Laguna Beach Little League 8/9 All-Star team kept its hopes alive for a District 55 championship but a strong tournament run by the Laguna 9/10 All-Star team met its end in the semifinals round in district action this week.

The 8/9 All-Stars remained alive in the chase for the SuperStars Division title by staving off Lake Forest, 18-12, in an elimination game Tuesday at Las Lomas Park in Irvine.

Laguna got off to a great start, posting five runs in the top of the first inning. Rex Bradshaw delivered the big blow with a blast to left-center, driving in three runs.

Presley Jones took the mound in the bottom of the first and pitched well, scattering ground balls throughout the infield. Maxwell Reimers came in and pitched solid middle relief for Laguna. He was aided by some spectacular plays in the field as both Jones and Sawyer Thomson made diving catches to steal potential hits.

Corwin Allard came in to close out the game which was closer than the final score indicates. Allard wasted no time, attacking the strike zone and sending the Lake Forest team down without much of a threat.

Laguna returned to action Thursday to take on Aliso Viejo No. 2 in another elimination game. The score wasn’t available at press time. The winner advances to face Northwood No. 2 in a 1 p.m. elimination game Saturday.

The Laguna Beach 8/9 Super Stars: Corwin Allard, Rex Bradshaw, Declan Murray, Presley Jones, Maxwell Reimers, Redmond Chesley, Fletcher Liao, Leo Pardun, Cameron Cureton, Lucien Reed, Gehrig MacKay, Sawyer Thomson, Santino Rossi. Manager: Stuart Jones. Coaches: Tom Reimers, Sean Murray.

9/10 All-Stars

Laguna played five games in the tournament, posting a 3-2 record, and reached the division semifinals where it was eliminated from title contention by Irvine Ranch which squeezed out an 8-7 victory Tuesday at Woodfield Park in Aliso Viejo.

Laguna jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to the hitting of Charlie Tyus (hit, run), Luke Machin (three for four, run), Ben Dawson (hit, RBI, run) and Taylor Towe (hit, RBI). Irvine Ranch roared back with two runs in bottom of the first. Laguna scored a run in the second and two in the third. Jackson Rowley was a key offensive contributor, going two for three, hitting a line-drive single to left-field and another one to center-field.

Meanwhile, Cade Anderton (11/3 innings pitched, one hit, two runs, no earned runs, no walks), Dylan McEachern (two innings, no runs, two hits, one strikeout, one walk), and Noah Neufeld (one inning, two runs, one hit, one walk), held Irvine Ranch at bay and Laguna took a 6-2 lead heading into the fifth inning. Aided by a couple of excellent bunts and a couple of defensive miscues, Irvine Ranch made a great comeback scoring six runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead, 8-6.

Laguna fought back in the sixth and final inning, Neufeld leading it off with a line-drive single to center-field. Dawson kept the rally going with a shot to shortstop that could not be handled. Sam Burchi hit another shot to shortstop and Neufeld scored to cut the Laguna deficit to 8-7. Camden Dowers (hit, RBI, run) came to bat with two outs and the tying run on third. He hit a hard ball toward third base but Irvine Ranch made the play, narrowly getting Dowers at first to end the game.

Prior to breaking for the Fourth of July holiday, Laguna had stayed alive in the tournament June 30 by outlasting Lake Forest, 20-9, in a back-and-forth, high-scoring battle,

Laguna jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a single by Luke Machin (three for five, four RBIs, three runs) and a two-run, 210-foot home run to center field by Noah Neufeld (four for five, three RBIs, three runs). Cade Anderton pitched well early shutting out Lake Forest in the first two innings.

With a few well-placed infield hits and a few hard-hit balls, the floodgates opened in the third with Lake Forest putting up nine runs to take a 9-2 lead. Laguna fought back with two in the fourth thanks to a lead-off single by Luke Fetzer (hit, run) followed by singles from Jackson Rowley (hit, two runs) and Taylor Towe (three for four, two RBIs, two runs). Laguna scored another run in the fifth to pull within 9-5 heading into the final inning.

In dramatic fashion in the top of the sixth, Laguna scored 15 runs to take a 20-9 lead. Towe led off the sixth with a shot to center, followed by singles from Jack Gallo (two for three, two runs) and Andre Nunn (hit, RBI, two runs). From there, nearly the entire team got in on the fun as Laguna pieced together seven hits in a row. After a strikeout, 10 more Laguna batters reached base in succession to propel the incredible rally. Camden Dowers had a the game-winning RBI with a clutch, two-run double to right-field.

Machin sent down Lake Forest in order in the bottom of the sixth to close out the big victory. Machin (two innings, no runs, no hits, two strikeouts) and Neufeld (12/3 innings, two runs, one earned, five hits, two strikeouts) were stellar on the mound in shutting out Lake Forest out in the final three innings.

In a June 28 game controlled by pitching and defense, Laguna won a hard-fought battle from Laguna Niguel and prevailed by a 4-3 score.

Dylan McEachern (42/3 innings, three runs/two earned, nine hits one walk) and Cade Anderton (11/3 innings, no runs, three hits, two strikeouts, no walks) were strong on the mound holding Laguna Niguel to three runs. They were aided by great outfield play and stellar play at third base and shortstop by Jackson Rowley and Luke Machin, respectively. Ben Dawson made a crucial play as well, throwing a runner out at third from right-field in the fifth inning.

Laguna Beach took an early lead (1-0) behind a lead-off double in the first by Charlie Tyus (three for three, three runs) and an RBI single by Noah Neufeld (two for three, RBI). Laguna Beach scored another run in the third to take a 2-0 lead. Tyus led off with a single, followed by a single by Machin (two for three, two RBIs) and a crucial, two-out RBI single by Camden Dowers (hit, RBI).

Holding a 2-1 lead entering the fifth, Laguna Beach scored twice. Andre Nunn (hit, run) hit a lead-off single and was followed by a Tyus and a clutch, two-run single by Machin. Laguna Beach went into the bottom-half of the inning holding a 4-1 lead. Laguna Niguel came roaring back and scored twice to set up a dramatic sixth inning.

Laguna Beach went down in order in the top of the inning. Laguna Niguel countered with a one-out single in the bottom of the frame but with the tying run at second base, Anderton struck out the next two batters to seal the win.

The Laguna Beach Little League 9/10-year-old All-Stars: Noah Neufeld, Charley Tyus, Jack Gallo, Sam Burchi, Andre Nunn, Luke Fetzer, Luke Machin, Cade Anderton, Taylor Towe, Wade Cecil, Ben Dawson, Dylan McEachern, Camden Dowers, Jackson Rowley. Manager: Orin Neufeld. Coaches: Jayson Rowley, Chad Anderton.