Page 4 July 18, 2019 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
School Spotlight
Sports
All Star Teams in Action
Story and Photos by Gregg McMullin
This is an exciting time for a young baseball
player in the El Segundo Little League (ESLL)
or Babe Ruth League. The El Segundo Little
All-Star 10s and 11s advanced and were
playing in the Section 4 tournament. The
El Segundo Babe Ruth 13s have qualified
for the Pacific Southwest Regional, while
the 14s and 15s were eliminated in the state
tournament. The 14U Girls softball team is
heading to Western Nationals after placing
in a qualifier tournament.
Gio Blanco Leads 10s
with Two Home Runs
The ESLL 10-year-old all-star team defeated
Redondo Beach Little League on the strength
of two home runs by Gio Blanco in the
District 36 championship game. Blanco hit
his first two-run homer in the third inning
and then belted another two-run shot in the
fifth inning. His consecutive homers in one
game are believed to be a first at that age
level in recent memory.
El Segundo played brilliantly on defense.
With Jordan Slavens on the mound, he let
his defense play behind him. Third baseman
Ryan Wiacek made five assists. Chase Mattoon
at shortstop played solidly and was on base
four times while scoring twice. He closed
out the win on the mound with a strikeout.
El Segundo’s win propelled the defending
District 36 champs into the Section 4 Tournament
played at Redondo Little League this
past week. In the opening round, El Segundo
faced West L.A. Little League and came
away with a 12-2 win. ESLL Wyatt Francis’
two-run single started things for El Segundo.
The seven-run fourth inning featured RBIs
from Slavens, Wiacek, Sebastian Gomez
and Camden Quaintance. Slavens, Wiacek
and Blanco combined to stymie West L.A.’s
touted offense.
In the second game, El Segundo faced
Torrance in a forgettable 10-0 setback and
dropped into the loser’s bracket. El Segundo
would need to win games on Monday, Tuesday
and last night to advance to the Southern
California State Tournament.
11-Year-Old All Stars Still Alive
El Segundo opened the Section 4 Tournament
with a disappointing 4-0 loss to West
L.A. ESLL couldn’t get any offense going
other than a double by Lincoln Quaintance
in the second inning. Singles by Jaiden Rico,
Joaquin Wagner-Bagues and Andre Sugden
were the extent of the offense. Townes Potter
took the loss after tossing four innings.
El Segundo defeated Westchester with an
11-0 victory in an elimination game. In the
El Segundo’s Ryan Wiacek is late with the tag of Redondo Beach’s Anthony Gil. Gio Blanco hit two home runs in his team’s win in the District 36 championship game.
See Sports, page 11
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