NBLL AAA: Red Sox hang on for AAA title

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH - After sleepwalking through their first three

innings of offense, the Red Sox snapped out of their funk and exploded to

a 12-9 win over the Dodgers in the Newport Beach Little League AAA

Division championship game Saturday at Lincoln Elementary.

Trailing, 2-0, the Red Sox scored five runs in both the fourth and fifth

innings to jump out to a 10-2 lead.

Blake Haymond and Brett Bartlett each had a single, double and three RBIs

for the Red Sox.

Patrick Brennan had two hits, two RBIs and two runs, while Alexander Ray

and Garrett Amoroso each had a hit and scored twice.

“At the beginning of the year we had a war cry that said, ‘Red Sox rock,’

” Manager George Brennan said after the game. “Well, in the beginning of

the season, the Red Sox didn’t rock, so we changed it to, ‘Team.’ That

fit us well because to get here, it took an entire team effort out

there.”

The Dodgers’ Max Canepa and Danny Muskovits each scored for the early 2-0

lead.

But with one out in the fourth for the Red Sox, Ray’s hit, a solid triple

over the left fielder’s head, sounded the alarm for the Red Sox bats.

Following Ray’s triple, Haymond, Brennan, Amoroso and Bartlett each had

hits and all would score before the inning was over.

The Dodgers’ Sean Berkley reached base and scored in the bottom of the

fourth to cut the lead to 5-3, but the Red Sox would quickly answer.

After two quick outs, the Red Sox bats came to life yet again. Three

singles, two walks and a double later, it was 10-3 lead for the Red Sox.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers, their big inning came one inning too soon.

The first seven Dodger batters reached base in the fifth inning with six

of them scoring, three on a three-run triple by Carlo Valdes.

However, the inning ended because league rules limit the first five

innings to a six-run maximum. Had the rally occurred in the sixth, the

inning would have continued. Instead, the Red Sox still led, 10-9.

“My hats off to the Red Sox,” Dodgers Manager Van Holland said. “They hit

superbly and had a great playoff run.”

The Red Sox added some insurance runs in the sixth. Corbin McNutt walked

and scored on a triple by Drew Brahs, who scored on a throwing error on

the play at the plate.

Leading the offense for the Dodgers was Valdes, who had two hits and four

RBIs. Muskovits had a hit and two runs.

Both teams will advance to the District 55 Area “B” Minors Tournament of

Champions beginning Saturday.