Ocean View claims 9/10 District title

Ocean View Little League’s 9/10 All-Star team took the hard road to

win the District 62 All-Star Tournament title.

Having dropped its opener in the double-elimination tournament on

July 1 to Fountain Valley, Ocean View stormed back to string together

four consecutive victories to claim the district banner.

Ocean View capped its comeback Monday night with an exciting,

come-from-behind, 12-11 victory over Huntington Valley at Robinwood

Little League. By winning the title, Ocean View ended Huntington

Valley’s three-year reign as District 62 champion.

Each team entered the championship game with one loss.

Ocean View began the tournament with a 5-4, seven-inning loss to

Fountain Valley. They stayed in contention for the title by downing

Westminster (19-2), taking a rematch from Fountain Valley (9-6), and

then took two straight from an undefeated Robinwood squad, (2-1 and

5-4).

In Monday’s final, Huntington Valley got off to a strong start by

scoring two runs in the first inning and three more in the second to

forge a 5-0 lead. In the process, Huntington Valley knocked starter

Austin Barlow, one of Ocean View’s top pitchers, out of the game.

Josh Berry came in for Ocean View in the second inning to finish

the frame, then shut down Huntington Valley in the third inning.

Trailing 5-0 in the top of the fourth, Ocean View got on the

scoreboard when Berry singled, Zach Gates walked and Bret Bonnani

delivered a three-run home run to center to get his team back into

the game.

Huntington Valley came back with three runs in the bottom of the

inning to again take a commanding lead.

But in the top of the fifth, Ocean View answered with four more

runs. Casey Hayes led off with a solo home run, Devin King singled,

Barlow hit a two-run home run, Bonnani singled and Jonathan Lancaster

doubled home Bonnani to tie the score 8-8.

Again, Huntington Valley didn’t waver, piecing together five hits

to score three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to take an 11-8

lead.

Ocean View, down to its last three outs, began a game-turning

rally. Hayes started it with a single and was replaced by

pinch-runner Tim Larson. Barlow followed with a single to score

Larson. Ryan Lewis came in to pinch-run for Barlow before Berry

doubled on a 2-2 pitch to score Lewis, bringing Ocean View to within

one run at 11-10.

Bonnani came through with a two-out RBI double to drive in Berry

and bring pandemonium to the Ocean View dugout with the score tied

11-11. Berry sent Huntington Valley down in order in the bottom of

the sixth to send the game into extra innings.

In the seventh, Ocean View leadoff hitter Brett Urabe beat out an

infield hit and advanced to second when the throw went down the

first-base line. Jake Caron walked and kept going toward second base.

He was thrown out, but Urabe made it home to give Ocean View its

first lead.

Berry faced the meat of Huntington Valley’s order in the bottom of

the seventh. He successfully handled a pair of grounders to the mound

for the first two outs, and Larson caught an infield fly at third

base for the final out.

In other District 62 championship series action Monday:

Majors Division

Fountain Valley 7, Huntington Valley 3

In a matchup between a pair of undefeated teams, Fountain Valley

won the first game in a best-of-three series to determine the

division’s champion at Robinwood.

The teams met again Tuesday night.

Huntington Valley had advanced to the championship series by

emerging undefeated from the Area 2 side of the bracket, defeating

host Seaview by scores of 8-1 and 5-3.

Fountain Valley’s road to the championship series included wins

over host Robinwood (8-6) and consecutive wins over Ocean View (5-3

and 12-2).

Junior League

Westminster captured the District 62 title Monday by defeating

Fountain Valley, 8-3, at Westminster.

It was Westminster’s second win over Fountain Valley. The teams

met in the tournament opener on June 30, and Westminster edged

Fountain Valley, 3-2.

Westminster’s other tournament win came at the expense of

Robinwood, 8-2. Fountain Valley stayed alive in tournament play by

eliminating Robinwood, 12-2.

In earlier games:

Majors Division

Ocean View 15, Robinwood 3

Brandon Holland doubled, walked, drove in a run and scored twice

for Ocean View. Sean Guite had a pair of doubles, a single, a walk,

three RBIs and three runs scored; Jonathon Combest doubled, singled

twice, had three RBIs and scored three runs; Cody Springer singled

and had three RBIs; and Ben Albert had an RBI single and run scored

for Ocean View.

Fountain Valley 6, Ocean View 5

In a three-hour battle, Fountain Valley scored an unearned run

with two out in the bottom of the 10th inning to eliminate Ocean

View.