Baseball: CMNLL Marlins fall late and definitively

Joseph Boo

HUNTINGTON BEACH - When the Costa Mesa National Little League Minor

A Marlins finally scored a run in the top of the fifth to cut their

deficit to 3-1, it put them in excellent position to come back against

the heavily-favored Seaview Mariners.

But the Mariners never gave the Marlins a chance to bat again. They

scored eight runs in their half of the fifth to mercy rule the Marlins,

11-1, Wednesday in the first round of the District 62 Tournament of

Champions at Ocean View Little League Park.

Before the fifth, both teams benefited from pitching. Neither team walked

a batter until the fourth and there were only three combined hits before

the fifth.

“Things were going smoothly with Anthony Secrest, our No. 1 pitcher, in

the game,” Marlins Manager Craig Hanley said. “But our other two pitchers

just couldn’t produce outs.”

The Marlins didn’t help their pitchers on the field. They committed eight

errors during the game, including six in the fifth.

In that inning, the Mariners’ first eight batters scored before the

Marlins got an out. Only three hits were needed in scoring the runs, two

singles and a triple.

“They were the better team,” Hanley said about his opponent. “They won

their league and went 19-1. They’re a good team.”

The Mariners only gave up two hits. Trevor McGuff led off the game with a

bunt single and the Marlins didn’t get another baserunner until Cory

Hanley walked in the fifth.

The Marlins’ second hit came right after that walk, a single by Nick

DiPietro. Taylor West then hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the Marlins’

only run.

“We didn’t get enough hits,” Hanley said. “We didn’t get consecutive hits

to start anything.”

Despite their troubles at the plate, the Marlins were only down, 3-1,

heading into the bottom of the fifth. Secrest only gave up two runs, one

earned, in three innings before being pulled to possibly pitch the

Marlins’ next game, if they won. But the eight-run Mariners fifth ruined

those plans.

Despite the loss, the Marlins capped off an otherwise successful season

that included second place in the CMNLL.

“With the talent we had, I though we got the most out of it,” Hanley

said. “We always found a way to win and that’s why we’re here. We were

definitely overachievers.”