Third-graders capture NJB title

The Newport-Mesa third-grade All-Stars went undefeated, 4-0, at the Southern California National Junior Basketball Sectional Tournament March 20-21.

Led by coaches Jeff Hamilton and Joe Schimmelpfennig, all players contributed in all four games.

Newport-Mesa defeated Irvine, 53-48, in the championship game.

Newport-Mesa will travel to Hanford March 26-28 to participate in the national tournament. The Newport-Mesa All-Stars will contend with All-Star teams from all over the west region.

— Reader submission

Newport-Mesa wins title

In its first game, the Newport-Mesa NJB fifth-grade boys’ All-Stars beat Los Alamitos, 37-22.

Newport-Mesa came from behind to win and was led by Brennan Greenwald’s 12 points, Drew Johnston’s four steals, four rebounds and a blocked shot, and Danny Rogers’ six points and four rebounds.

Then against the Irvine Shockers, Zach Blaine led Newport-Mesa in scoring with 12 points and also had five rebounds. Billy Shaw, who stood out on defense, had five rebounds and four points. Brett Super took on Irvine’s top scorer and held him scoreless while picking up five points and six steals. The Shockers won, 40-37.

Newport-Mesa then beat Tustin, 43-22, to stay in contention for the title. Kyle Hatch scored 10 points of his game-high 15 points in the third period. Jake Pearson had seven points and six rebounds, Jack McClintock had three points, three rebounds and two assists and Chase Grippo dished out six assists. With his four points and eight rebounds in the game, Fritz Miller had four points and eight rebounds. Miller had 10 points and 17 rebounds in the tournament.

— Greg Super

Wolverines collect title

The Wolverines captured their postseason tournament to become boys’ Division 3 champions in Newport-Mesa NJB.

The Wolverines won the tournament after finishing the regular season in fourth place with a 6-4 record. Coached by Mike Coffman, the Wolverines are Clyde Moore, Sam Barela, Benjamin Coffman, Peter Larsen, Anthony Di Ferdinando, Mitch Harvey, Max Morris and Ben Kwong.

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Bockrath lights it up

It all came together for the Newport-Mesa Longhorns boys’ under-13 basketball team in the March Madness Swoosh tournament last weekend. Playing against a seasoned Orange County Swoosh team, the game became like a heavyweight fight with each team getting hit, yet no one would fall down.

The Longhorns came back in the second half to win the game, 78-73.

The OC Swoosh got in the first hits with strong point guard play, driving and great passing. However, the Longhorns brought their game, too, and that is playing strong team defense and quick, get-the-ball-up-the-court fastbreaks. Oh, and some deadly three-point shooting. Ben Bockrath plays the No. 2 guard position and boy, did he let it fly Sunday morning.

The OC Swoosh was having their way to begin the game and ran their lead up to 12 points before the second wave of replacements of Newport-Mesa Longhorns came in the game with less then eight minutes remaining in the first half. Bockrath took advantage of what the defense gave him, and that was the three-point line and the fast break. In the first half, Bockrath went three for four from behind the arch with a single drive to the basket.

By halftime, the Swoosh lead had been narrowed to three. Keysean Scott and Jake Harr put pressure on the inbound pass and got quick scores. Bockrath came back into the game and continued where he left off; letting it fly from behind the three-point line seven more times, plus two more power drives to the basket for layups.

Bockrath went 10 for 11 from three-point range for a game-high 37 points. He also scored on three fastbreak layups, hit a free throw, had five assists, four rebounds and hit the floor fighting for loose balls.

— Joe Bockrath

Blazers take title

The Blazers won the championship in sixth-grade division of the Boys & Girls Club winter basketball league.

In the championship game Charlie Stassel and Sam Skinner each scored 11 points to lead the Blazers. Joe Jansen added eight points and Peter Bush chipped in with seven points. JoJo Stassel, Jack McKasson, Jessie Raff and Max Durante all made significant contributions for the victorious Blazers.

— Reader submission

Flemings beat Verizon

Flemings spotted Verizon five runs in the first inning but came back to win, 13-8, in a Newport Beach Little League Majors division game Saturday.

Alex Shadid of Flemings was the star of the game.

Summoned to the mound to put out the fire in the first inning, Shadid retired three of the first four batters he faced and allowed only one additional run over the next three innings. He also sparked the Flemings offense with four singles and three runs scored.

Ethan Wein of Flemings had the web gem of the game as he sprinted from his position at second base, to slide under a blooper down the first base line to record the third out. Catcher Jack Genova gunned down a runner trying to steal second. Blake Kormos, Brett Super and Will Favreau all reached base three times and scored runs and Jonathan White and Sam Kobrine also got on and added to Flemings run total.

Genova, Noah Katz and Alec Tak muscled up with doubles, Conor Costello played errorless ball and Favreau replaced Shadid in the fifth to close out the game.

— Greg Super

Costa Mesa American Little League

Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 3

It was an eight-inning duel on St. Patrick’s Day for the Dodgers and Blue Jays who played to a 3-3 tie in a Majors Division game called because of darkness.

The Dodgers’ James Barton took the game’s first pitch for a single to left-center field but was left stranded. Pitcher Daniel Morales struck out the first two batters he faced, but the Blue Jays scored two runs in their first at-bat.

In the top of the third, Garett Kerley laid down a textbook bunt base hit to start the Angels’ third at-bat. He moved to second on a passed ball and then advanced to third on an infield groundout by Alejandro Vargas. The Dodgers scored their first run when Katrina Heil beat out a ground ball to second base to pull the Dodgers to within 2-1.

In the top of the sixth, Paul King led off with a single for the Dodgers. Grady Conner, facing a full count, hit a towering fly ball into right-center field to score King with a triple. Down a run, Conner stole home when a failed bunt attempt resulted in a passed ball, to tie the score.

The game went to extra innings. Evan Larsen took the mound for the Dodgers in the bottom of the sixth and seventh and struck out six of the eight batters he faced. Noah Prevel had similar results for the Blue Jays, striking out six of the seven batters he faced in the top of the seventh and eighth innings. The Dodgers brought in Frankie Rodriguez in the bottom of the eight and he went on to retire the side on three ground outs.

— Christy Conner and Jack Morales

In other CMALL games

Dodgers 5, White Sox 3

It was the second consecutive extra-innings duel for the Dodgers Tuesday but this time, the game ended with a Dodgers’ victory after seven innings.

James Barton had a one-out single in the top of the first inning. Barton then stole second and third base and was brought home on Evan Larsen’s two-out RBI single. The White Sox struck right back in the bottom of the first. With two out and the bases empty, the White Sox scored two runs to take a 2-1 lead.

Effective pitching and good defense by the White Sox shut the Dodgers offense down in both the second and third innings, and the Sox increased their lead by another run (3-1) in their half of the second inning.

Dodgers pitcher Daniel Morales took the mound in the bottom third inning as the heart of the White Sox lineup came to the plate. With two out, he was able to force out a runner at home to close out the inning.

Brandon Olguin started the Dodgers fourth with a single but was later thrown out at second base after an attempted steal on a passed ball. Grady Conner then walked, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a hot double by Morales.

Morales then retired the side in the bottom of the fourth. The Dodgers sent Larsen to the mound in the bottom of the fifth and he also retired the side.

Lether singled with two out in the top of the sixth, moved to second on a wild pitch and surprised everyone on the field — including his manager, with a well-executed delayed steal of third base. Lether then scored on a passed ball to tie the game.

Larsen then retired the side in the bottom of the sixth to send the game into extra innings.

Dodger pitchers tallied up 13 strikeouts while the White Sox pitchers recorded 16.

— Jack Morales