District all-stars advance

Mike Sciacca

The Robinwood Majors Division All-Star team and the Ocean View 9/10

All-Star team each survived two weeks of competition unscathed to

capture District 62 All-Star Tournament championships.

The two leagues will carry the District 62 banner into Section 5

tournament play, which begins Friday.

Majors Division

Robinwood 7, Huntington Valley 6

Robinwood completed a 5-0 run through the tournament by edging

three-time defending champion Huntington Valley at Mile Square Park.

It was the first district title for the league since 1996, and

only the fourth time in its 42-year history that the league has won a

district crown, Majors All-Star manager Rob Huffman said.

“We just played basic baseball,” Huffman said of his team’s

journey through the tournament, which included wins over Ocean View

(2-1), two against Westminster by scores of 6-1 and 7-5, and two wins

against Huntington Valley (8-2 and 7-6).

“We had great pitching, great defense and great baserunning, which

tends to go unnoticed by a lot of people,” he said. “Our guys were

solid on the base paths, and we have a great third base coach in Bob

Marshall.”

Robinwood sent out a pair of 12-year-olds to the mound in the

championship-clinching win over Huntington Valley, as Alec Fuller

started and pitched an inning, and Mitch Huffman went the final five

innings.

Huntington Valley had the potential tying run at third base with

two outs in the top of the sixth, before Huffman got the final out on

a pop up.

“That last batter sure was tough at the plate,” Rob Huffman said.

“Mitch threw nine pitches to him and he fouled off four consecutive

fastballs before he was able to get him to pop up on that fifth

fastball.

“Huntington Valley’s hitters were just incredible, from top to

bottom.”

Brett Morinaka, Joey Wagner, Chris Schaaf and Nick Marshall

provided Robinwood with clutch hitting.

“We’re not a real big team, but we play hard-nosed,” Huffman said.

“These kids are extremely excited to be heading to sectionals.”

Robinwood will take on Mission Viejo in its first Section 5

tournament game at 7:30 p.m. Friday at East Tustin Little League.

The Robinwood All-Star team is composed of Fuller, Mitch Huffman,

Morinaka, Wagner, Chris Schaaf, Marshall, Mike Clayton, Kevin Graham,

Chris Martinez, Dusty Mouradian, Chris Rossi, Harley Shoffner and

coaches Marshall and Phil Schaaf.

9/10 Division

Ocean View 9, Huntington Valley 3

Although Huntington Valley drew first blood in the second game of

the championship series, Ocean View responded with the final nine

runs to clinch the division title for the second consecutive year.

Huntington Valley scored all three of its runs in the bottom of

the second inning.

Ocean View began its rally in the top of the fourth by scoring

three runs to tie the score. Zachary Gates began things with a single

to left before Casey Hayes and Grant Mayeaux drew walks to load the

bases. Wyatt Albert delivered a bases-clearing double to

right-centerfield to knot the score at 3-3.

Ocean View came back for three more runs in the fifth inning. Jake

Arledge and Tyler Mildenberg both singled before Hayes singled to

right field. The ball got by the right fielder and ended up rolling

to the fence, allowing all three runners to score to make it 6-3.

OVLL rolled its third three-run inning of the contest in the sixth

to complete the scoring.

Defense once again led the way for Ocean View, which turned two

double plays to squelch potential rallies by Huntington Valley.

Ocean View had 11 hits in the game, led by Mildenberg who went two

for four with two RBI, Arledge at two for four, and Albert, who

doubled, singled and drove in three runs.

Ocean View used four pitchers to get the win.

Ocean View’s tournament victims also included Fountain Valley

(12-2) and Robinwood twice (5-3 and 3-0).

Ocean View advances to play Loara Little League of Anaheim at 7:30

p.m. Friday in its Section 5 opener at the Lakewood Athletic Facility

in Santa Fe Springs.

The Ocean View 9/10 All-Star team is composed of Albert, Arledge,

Mildenberg, Mayeaux, Hayes, Dee Atwood, Jacob Caron, Benjamin Drolet,

Zachary Gates, Max Gibbs, Dane Perkins, Chris Smith and coaches Zip

Atwood and Mike Mayeaux.

“Winning back-to-back District 62 titles is something our league

is proud of,” Ocean View manager Gorden Gates said. “Wade Caron

managed last year’s team and blazed the trail for us. Sectionals,

however, brings a whole different perspective as every game is

against a district champion and the depth of your pitching staff

usually determines how far you go.

“Walks can turn around and bite you quickly and we are fortunate

to have six-to-eight kids that we can give the ball to and have them

throw strikes. With the defense we have behind them, I’ll take my

chances on balls put into play.

“This team is solid from top to bottom and a pure pleasure to

coach and watch play. With the talent we have, the toughest thing is

trying to get them the playing time they all deserve. Every kid

earned their way onto this team and has contributed in each of our

victories.”