Malibu All-Stars Advance in Little League Playoffs

Malibu Little Leaguer Tanner Gottlieb faced a daunting task when he walked to the pitcher's mound with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the first inning in Friday's game at the Ladera Little League complex in Ladera Heights.

Malibu's 10 & 11-year-old all-star baseball team was already trailing University 2-0 in a game it had to win to stay alive in the District 25 Tournament, but Gottlieb had some experience to fall back on.

The 11-year-old had faced a similar situation with the Phillies in the Malibu Major Division championship game, relieving the starter a few batters into the game and pitching his team to a 5-4 extra-inning victory over the Red Sox.

"You have to be confident and realize that if they score, it's not your fault," Gottlieb said. "I was thinking strikeout, no hits and don't let them hit it to the outfield where the runner [on third] could tag up."

Gottlieb proceeded to strike out two batters, and Malibu's offense took over from there, pounding out 12 hits en route to a 10-2 victory.

Gottlieb pitched five innings, allowing just two hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts. He couldn't quite finish the game, reaching the 85-pitch limit with one out in the sixth. Tyler Ray did the rest, striking out the first batter he faced, then watching catcher Kayden Lynch pounce on a bunted ball and fire to first base for the final out.

Manager Patrick Lynch lifted starting pitcher Quincy Allen after only 1/3 of an inning, fearing Allen might be flustered by the home plate umpire's refusal to call strikes on several borderline pitches.

"Quincy is our guy and I have a lot of confidence in him, it was just a gut decision I made because I sensed he wasn't getting the calls and that was starting to get to him," Lynch said. "He's a great fielder so I knew it wouldn't hurt us having him play third base and sure enough he made some awesome plays over there."

S.J. Murphy doubled with one out in the bottom of the first and cut Malibu's deficit in half by scoring when Allen's grounder to the shortstop was not fielded cleanly. 

After Gottlieb retired University in order in the second, Malibu took the lead for good in the bottom half. First, William Tamkin scored on an error by the pitcher, then Luca Damian doubled to score Jake Hughes and Ray.

Gottlieb led off the third with a solo home run to center field and Ray added a solo homer with two outs to make the score 6-2.

"It feels cool," said Gottlieb after the game. "That's the first [homer] I've hit all season."

Malibu tacked on four more runs in the fifth. Ray scored on an error, Murphy singled down the third base line to score Adam Rafeeti, Allen slapped a single to left to score Chase Cook and Gottlieb lined a single to center on the first pitch to bring home Murphy. 

Malibu plays Ladera Sunday at 1 p.m., with the winner facing West LA.

Manager Lynch is hoping his team gets another shot at Santa Monica East, earlier in the double-elimination tournament. Malibu needs two more wins to earn a rematch.

"Whatever doesn't kill us only makes us stronger," Lynch said. "The thing about all-star teams is that the kids don't have time to play together and develop chemistry. Losing [to Santa Monica East] was good in a way because it's giving us more practices and games. So if we meet them in the finals, I definitely think we can compete."

Go here to view the District 25 Tournament 10-11 bracket.