ALISO VIEJO – The night before, Ocean View pounded four home runs in a 16-4 rout over Ladera Ranch. So when that same Ocean View squad tied Friday’s Little League Section 10 10-11-Year-old All-Star championship game with two runs in the first inning, Aliso Viejo Manager Kevin Schilling was a little nervous.
“Ocean View is an unbelievable team,” said Schilling, “their bats are scary. I was definitely worried, but I knew my kids would come back and smack the ball”
And smack the ball they did.
Aliso Viejo (6-0) tallied 11 runs over the next three innings to roll to a 13-2 (4-innings) mercy-rule victory to capture the section title at Woodfield Park.
The victory advances Aliso Viejo to the Southern California South Sub-Divisional tournament, which begins today at Carl Karper Field in San Bernardino.
The triumph somewhat eases the pain of losing in last year’s 9-10-Year-Old District 55 tournament. Aliso Viejo had won the district tournament in each of the three years it has been held until 2014.
“The kids were devastated that they didn’t get out of district last year. You can see it in their eyes that they really wanted to go far this year,” said Schilling.
Aliso Viejo has been nothing short of dominant in the postseason. The squad swept through both the district and section tournaments, outscoring their opponents, 69-8.
On Friday, Aliso Viejo banged out nine hits and rode the right arm of starting pitcher Kyle Evans, who held Ocean View to just six hits while walking one and striking out two.
“Kyle pitched his heart out,” said Schilling. “To hold that Ocean View team to just two runs is remarkable.”
Aliso Viejo broke the 2-2 tie in the third with a six-run rally. Two walks, a single, a wild pitch and a two-run error led to the first three runs. Following a single by pinch-hitter Ryan Tatch, No. 8 hitter Tyler Fields then blasted a 215-foot three-run homer over the left-centerfield fence to give Aliso Viejo an 8-2 lead.
“That home run was huge,” said Schilling. “Anybody in our lineup can hit it out, but his home run came at the perfect time.”
Aliso Viejo put the game out of range with five more runs in the fourth. Run-scoring hits by Camden Neeson and Keegan Shone, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Tatch accounted for the runs.
“We just ran out of pitching today,” said Ocean View manager Dana Lux.
Seven batters had hits for Aliso Viejo, including two each by leadoff batter Kason Schilling and Shotaro Hamada.
Aliso Viejo scored its first two runs in the first on a RBI single by Hamada and an Ocean View miscue.
Ocean View, the District 62 champion, scored its two runs on a RBI groundout by Antonio Ventimiglia and a run-scoring single by Jack Clark.
