Youth Baseball Roundup: NHBA U10 Mustang All-Stars advance

The Newport Harbor Baseball Assn. Mustang Division U10 All-Stars finished second in the district tournament completed Sunday at St. Hedwig School in Los Alamitos.

The finish earns the locals a berth in the section tournament.

Newport Harbor will open the section tournament against St. Hedwig’s B team on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Placentia.

To advance to the section tournament, Newport Harbor defeated La Mirada, 8-3, on Sunday, behind the combined two-hit pitching of Dylan Zegers and Kaden Stowell.

Zegers pitched four hitless innings and recorded six strikeouts.

NHBA scored three runs in the first inning. Jack Starnes led off with a bunt single then stole second and third. Will O’Neil then lined an RBI single and Stowell lashed a single to center to put runners on the corners. After Zegers walked to load the bases, Will Patterson singled to center to drive in O’Neil and double the lead. Stowell later scored on a wild pitch to complete the rally.

NHBA, the designated visitor, scored three more in the third, led by a two-run double by Patterson that scored Stowell and Zegers, who had walked and singled, respectively. Patterson later scored from third on a ground ball to short by Cole Lavin to give NHBA a 6-1 advantage.

Richard Lemmon walked and stole second to ignite a two-run rally for Newport Harbor in the sixth. O’Neil doubled in Lemmon, and later scored on a groundout to second base by Stowell.

Other key players for Newport Harbor included Eli Liechty, who caught the first four innings, as well as Ryan Riddlesperger.

Newport Harbor scored 37 runs in the tournament and posted a .507 on-base percentage.

— Reader submission

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Newport keeps winning

The Newport Beach Little League National All-Star 8- and 9-year-old team stayed alive in the winners’ bracket of the District 55 All-Star Tournament with a 14-10 win over Laguna Beach Tuesday night.

Colton Quick and Ryan McManigal pitched two innings each.

In the first inning, Newport Beach scored four runs with a huge two-out rally.

Carter Healey began with a hit and Jackson McKinney and Quinn Welton followed with hits.

Jack Salmon, with his uncle and former Angel Tim Salmon in the crowd, then produced a three-run double.

Jack Bolt drove in Jack Salmon to make it 4-0 in the top of the first.

Laguna Beach came back with two runs in the first to make it 4-2, but Newport Beach added three more runs in the top of the second and four more runs in the top of the third.

Newport led, 11-4, after three innings and added one run in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth.

Laguna rallied with six runs in the sixth before Healy came in to strike out the last two hitters.

Healy was three for three, McKinney was two for two with a walk and a hit by pitch.

Newport Beach is 3-0 and will play Aliso Viejo (3-0) Friday at 7 p.m. at Woodfield Park in Aliso Viejo.

— Reader submission