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Huntington Valley beats CMALL in the 8-9 All-Stars District Championship

The Huntington Valley Little League 8-9 All-Stars celebrate with a banner on the field after defeating Costa Mesa America Little League, 7-4, in the District 62 championship game.
(Andrew Turner / Daily Pilot)
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It is not an easy task to traverse the field of District 62 on the Little League baseball circuit.

That is the home of Ocean View Little League, renowned for being the most recent of California’s seven Little League World Series champions.

Huntington Beach High Oilers Nick Pratto and Hagen Danner both played on that team, and they were taken in the MLB Draft this year.

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A third Oiler who played on that team, Trevor Windisch, will be playing collegiately for the University of Oregon.

Regardless of the organizational backdrop, however, the Huntington Beach area remains a stronghold for baseball.

The Huntington Valley 8-9 All-Stars defeated Costa Mesa America Little League, 7-4, in the championship game of the District 62 Tournament on Saturday morning at Fountain Valley’s Mile Square Park.

Owen Bone gave Huntington Valley its first lead with a two-run home run over the center-field fence in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Jaxon Olmstead and Jared Marchbank singled in front of a two-RBI double by Drake Menchaca as Huntington Valley took a 6-2 lead.

“The kids were playing a little tight at the beginning, which is to be expected,” Huntington Valley coach Jerry Marchbank said. “It’s a big game for them.

“We got a big two-run home run from Owen Bone. He hit one good.”

Bone went 4 1/3 innings as the starter to get the win. He allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits. He struck out seven and walked four.

Nate Sammartano, affectionately referred to as “Samurai” by his teammates, guarded the lead from there. He struck out three and allowed one run in recording the final five outs for the save.

Costa Mesa America Little League seemed to do things the hard way throughout the tournament. They fell to Huntington Valley, 10-0, early in the District 62 Championships.

Ocean View Little League was an obstacle that Costa Mesa had to get through just to reach the final. Despite their awareness of the league’s reputation, CMALL coach Ben Lower said his kids would not back down.

“A lot of them are aware that Ocean View and all the Huntington Beach teams are always tough,” Lower said. “They know the competition they were up against. They were up for the challenge.

“They played just lights out. If they don’t play their best, they don’t win that game.”

In the championship game, Grady Jackson drove in three runs with a pair of doubles. The first hit for the CMALL catcher gave his team a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning. The second cut the Huntington Valley lead to 6-3.

Sol Moriyama provided an insurance run for Huntington Valley in the bottom of the sixth. His RBI-single scored Charlie Henderson.

The rally was ended by CMALL second baseman Bennett Molica, who caught a liner off the bat of Colby Debenon. Molica would walk and score on a ground out by Wylan Rottschafer in the top of the seventh, but Huntington Valley held on for the win.

Huntington Valley advances to Sectionals in Mission Viejo. Its first game will be against the District 55 winner next Saturday at 11 a.m.

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner

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