EL SEGUNDO HERALD August 2, 2018 Page 5
Historic Little League Run Ends
Story and Photos by Gregg McMullin
It hasn’t happened many times in the past,
but two El Segundo Little League (ESLL)
all-star teams reached the all-star state championship
tournament in the same summer. For
the 11-12-year-old team, it meant facing the
top squads from as far away as San Diego,
Lancaster and the Conejo Valley. Each team
had won district and section tournaments to
meet with the winner and advance to the
Western Region Little League tournament in
San Bernardino.
For the 9-10-year-old all-stars, it also meant
winning their district and section tournaments
to face other teams from Southern California
in the Little League Southern California tournament
played in Corona. The winner of the
south tournament would face the winner of the
Northern California tournament to be crowned
California state champions. Both teams had
an incredible and historic run, but each saw
the all-star runs end on the same night.
11-12-Year-Olds Come Close
ESLL had one of its finest runs in all-star
competition in years. After running the table
in the District 36 tournament, the team then
won the Section 4 Tournament to advance to
the Southern California Little League all-star
tournament. El Segundo had a bye in the first
round of the 10-team tournament and advanced
to face Conejo Valley Little League (CVLL)
in the quarterfinal winner’s bracket round.
ESLL took an early 2-0 lead in the first
inning and then tagged two CVLL pitchers
for seven runs in the second inning on
the way to a 13-5 win. Lucas Bonham and
James Baldino hit home runs, while Mateo
Heredia had and RBI double to highlight the
big second inning. ESLL went on to score
three third inning runs and another one in
the fourth inning.
Brett Abitante led the offense, going 3-3
with a double, two RBIs, two walks and
three runs scored. Dylan Alcala was 2-4 with
an RBI double. Dylan Garcia, who has had
a successful all-star season both offensively
and on the mound, started for El Segundo.
He limited Conejo Valley to two runs on two
hits. He also contributed on offense with an
RBI in the third inning.
ESLL advanced to play Park View in the
winner’s bracket semifinal round. Park View
Little League’s all-star history is filled with
success. The team from Chula Vista has
advanced to the Little League World Series
twice in the past 10 years and won it once.
Chula Vista played flawless defense and
took advantage of two El Segundo errors to
go on to win 6-0. The hard-throwing Garcia
started his second consecutive game and
struck out five in three innings. Chula Vista
came up with an unearned first inning run
and a three-run home run in the third inning
that chased Garcia. Garcia and Dylan Immel,
who each went 2-for-3, led an ESLL offense
limited to six hits.
In the third game, a pitchers’ duel between
Baldino and Quartz Hills’ Donovan Cromwell
was an exciting matchup that El Segundo
won 2-1. Baldino surrendered a first inning
home run to give Quartz Hills a 1-0 lead, but
then he silenced his opponents after that. He
pitched five innings before his pitch count
limit forced him to give way to Heredia in
the sixth inning.
Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, El Segundo put
together a rally that provided the two runs that
ultimately won the game. Baldino singled,
Holden Coulter walked and Garcia drew an
eight-pitch walk to load the bases. Baldino
and Coulter each scored on wild pitches to
make it 2-1. Baldino tossed perfect fourth and
fifth innings that gave him eight consecutive
outs over three innings. Heredia pitched out
of a jam in the sixth inning and Quartz Hills
left both the tying and winning runs on base.
El Segundo faced Huntington Valley Little
League (Huntington Beach) and fell 13-0.
Huntington Valley erupted for 13 runs in the
third inning, highlighted by Tony Martinez’s
grand slam. In the inning, Huntington Valley
had 10 hits and took advantage of three walks.
Immel had two of El Segundo’s three hits.
Even with a lopsided defeat, the ESLL allstar
team had an incredible run and much to
be proud of for this year’s accomplishments.
They finished 12-3 overall and advanced
to the final four of the Southern California
Dylan Garcia hit his first home run against Riviera Little League in the Section 4 final game.
Little League all-star tournament. When you
consider how many teams and leagues there
are, it was quite an achievement.
9-10-Year-Old All-Stars’
Incredible Run Comes Up Short
The ESLL all-stars continued their run
after winning the Section 4 Little League
tournament. They faced Huntington Valley
Little League (HVLL) in the first round and
came away with an 8-4 loss after spotting
the opponent a 4-0 lead after two innings.
ESLL had problems getting any offense
going early on, but broke through in the
fifth inning. Trailing 4-0, Ryan Wiacek was
hit by a pitch and later scored on an error
by the centerfielder to make it 4-1. HVLL
responded with a four-run inning to take an
8-1 lead. In the sixth inning ESLL made a
dent in the deficit, but couldn’t quite catch
up. Giovani Blanco and James Owen each
singled. Walks to Spencer Osbourne and
Jaiden Rico forced in a run. Wiacek’s two-run
single scored Owen and Osbourne to make
it 8-4, but the rally was cut short.
El Segundo responded with a come-frombehind
6-5 victory over Pasadena American
Little League. Trailing 5-2 in the fourth inning,
El Segundo came up with a four-run
rally. Jordan Slavens started the rally with a
single to centerfield followed by singles by
Wiacek and Chase Mattoon. Logan Brooks’
two-run single made it 5-4. Joaquin Wagner-
Bagues’ sharp grounder was misplayed,
scoring Mattoon. Then Brooks scored on
a fielder’s choice for a 6-5 lead. Mattoon
closed out the game on the mound getting
two strike outs in the sixth inning.
The ESLL all-stars continued their winning
ways against North Park Little League from
Dylan Garcia started two consecutive games on the mound in the Southern California Little League all-star tournament.
San Diego. El Segundo scored three first inning
runs and three sixth inning runs to win
6-3. The team pounded out 16 hits, paced
by Lincoln Quaintance. He had three hits,
including a double, and three RBIs.
In the first inning, Quaintance’s two-run
double gave El Segundo a 2-0 lead. He later
scored to make it 3-0 on an RBI single by
Jake Danford to cap the first inning scoring.
North Park scored single runs in the first,
second and fifth innings to tie the game. In
the top half of the sixth inning, El Segundo
scored three runs. Brooks doubled and Wagner-
Bagues singled. Quaintance’s sacrifice fly
scored Brooks to make it 4-3. Blanco’s RBI
double made it 5-3 and Andre Sugden’s RBI
single capped El Segundo’s scoring. Brooks
came in to throw a perfect nine-pitch sixth
inning to get the win.
El Segundo faced Huntington Valley Little
League in the elimination semifinal game.
This time it would be a closer game that El
Segundo let slip away in the final inning.
HVLL scored single runs in the second,
third, fourth and fifth innings along with a
two-out, two-run rally in the sixth inning.
Trailing 4-2 in the fifth inning, El Segundo
came up with two runs to tie the game. Only
a double play prevented the locals from taking
the lead. Brooks led off with a single
and scored on Quaintance’s double. Blanco
singled and Knupfer pinch ran. Danford’s
ground ball scored Quaintance to tie the game
at 4-4. After the force at first base, a return
throw to third base caught Knupfer off the
bag for the 6-3-5 double play.
Huntington Valley’s sixth inning rally
included a single, walk and a bases-clearing
triple with two outs to take a 6-4 lead and
hold on for the win. El Segundo’s impressive
showing during all-star play ended with
an 11-3 record and a finish as one of four
remaining Southern California teams.
Congratulations to the El Segundo Little
League all-star teams. You represented your
community, families and the El Segundo Little
League with class, respect and dignity. •