Moraga Mustang Allstars A Hit

In the last month of the season, the roster starts to come together as the league heads into postseason play.

The 2011 Mustang regular season was an exciting one, with the Red Sox leading wire-to-wire throughout the regular season, then defeating the 2nd place Giants (9-5) in the playoff championship game.

The champion Red Sox (12-2) sent all their representatives to the 10u allstar team, while the Giants sent Aidan Lyon (P/SS). The co-2nd place Yankees (9-5) who were one of two teams, along with the Cubs, to upset the Red Sox on the season, sent the most players, with Braden Maher (3B/C), Ryan Fritch (3B/OF), Grant Harper (P/1B/SS), Mark McCurdy (P/C/OF) and Will Windatt (1B/OF) joining the squad.

The 4th place Angels (7-6-1) sent Kyle Sintchak (2B), who recently recuperated from a broken arm suffered while diving for a fly ball in center.

The 5th place Cardinals (6-7-1) sent leadoff hitter Ian Concepcion(P/C) and Cayden Hein (OF) while the 6th place A's were represented by Jake Crumbaugh(3B/OF) and Corey Goldman(OF/1B).

The 7th place Cubs (4-10) sent infielder Billy Woolsey (P/1B/OF) and the 8th place Pirates (3-11) were represented by CJ Rago (P/C/OF).

"One of the things that's real important for these kids is the level of competition," said coach Ken Sintchak. "Playing at the MBA level is great but when they get a chance to play outside of our small town, they get to see other areas that really take their baseball seriously. They face a lot of good pitching and they start facing teams that can hit the heck out of the ball and they start to step it up themselves.

"The more tough competition they see and the more tournaments they play, they just keep getting better and better. Granted, they may get their butts kicked every once in a while but they are getting better."

The Mustangs have been led by outstanding hitting from Maher (.525 avg, .700 obp), Lyon (.517 avg, 9 rbi), Woolsey (.500 avg), Harper (.467 avg, 11 rbi), Windatt (.455 avg, 14 rbi) and McCurdy (.424 avg, 19 runs).
 
In the field, the Mustangs have been paced by Crumbaugh, Rago and Goldman, all with no errors throughout the postseason and by McCurdy, Lyon and Harper on the mound, each with sub 5.00 ERA's.

For 9-year olds, it's a big transition year. Most players played Pinto ball with MBA so they have a good start with the fundamentals. However, making the jump from coach pitch to player pitch is always one of the biggest challenges in Mustang ball. And for those making the move from LMYA, the challenge is even greater, going from one hour of practice and one game a week to three hours of practice and a pair of games a week -when the weather cooperates- as well as tougher competition.

"At this stage, they're a pretty good tournament team," said Sintchak. "But some of them are still young and this is still new to them. You can definitely tell the more experienced ones but those that are more new to it are getting better and better. Then coming back next year, they'll feel more confident, if anything."

The results this postseason have been solid, with the Moraga 9's reaching the finals of their first tournament and a strong showing throughout with their 8-4 start.

Their results in postseason play so far:

Moraga Madness 9U Tournament in Moraga
Game 1  Moraga  11, Piedmont  3
Game 2  Moraga  17, Piedmont  3
Game 3  Moraga  16, Orinda  6
Game 4  Moraga  11, Orinda  6
Game 5  Orinda  9, Moraga  5

Moraga/Brentwood
Moraga  11, Brentwood  7

PONY 9U Sectionals
Game 1  Moraga  15, Vacaville  12
Game 2  Bel Passi 13, Moraga  6
Game 3  Moraga  14, Tara Hills 2
Game 4  Ceres 18, Moraga 8

Lafayette double header
Lafayette 9, Moraga 8
Moraga 10, Lafayette 5

For a video snapshot of the Moraga Mustang 9's, including game film vs. Lafayette and postgame interviews with players and coaches, check out our accompanying video.

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