Junior All-Stars Fall Flat in Championship Game

The Manhattan Beach Junior Little League All-Stars won back-to-back elimination games on Monday with a 7-6 win over District 27 Champion San Pedro Eastview and Tuesday with an 8-7 win over North Venice. The grueling five games in five days schedule caught up with the team in Wednesday's defeat. 

Tuesday's game

Looking forward to a rematch against North Venice, who had bested Manhattan Beach on Sunday 9-4 in the winner's bracket, manager Ira Smith sent pitching ace Michael Rumpp to the mound. Despite two early errors, Rumpp contained North Venice's potent line up to four runs through four innings, keeping his team in it as they faced elimination. 

It was in the bottom of the fourth when Manhattan Beach as home team erupted for six runs and a 7-4 lead. Jackson Michalski led off with a double down third base that was followed by a bunt single by Glen Mitchel. Rumpp helped himself out with a hit to third base that the fielder couldn't handle, driving in a run. 

A walk for Jake Lane and a single by Jordan Bremer loaded the bases for the hot-hitting Luke McCauley, who crushed a three-run triple over the center fielder's head. A single by Michalski drove in McCauley for the sixth run as the team sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning.

Manhattan Beach bats were blistering as the team pounded out 10 hits and drew six walks during the game, and impressively this was against North Venice’s number one pitcher, Jesse Hanckel.

A scoreless fifth inning kept the score at 7-4 entering the sixth inning.  A walk, single and double by North Venice brought in two runs with a runner at third base and one out. Rumpp then induced a shallow fly ball to center for the second out, but had to leave the mound as he reached the 95 pitch limitation. Michalski came in for relief and got a fly out to left field on one pitch to end the threat.

Manhattan Beach went down in order in the bottom of the sixth, leaving North Venice at a one-run deficit with three outs left in the top of seventh inning.

After retiring the first batter, Michalski gave up a walk and the runner moved to second on a steal. The next batter hit a single with the runner on second coming in to score on a close play at the plate that could easily have been called either way as catcher Luke Jelmini made a great catch and tag on the play. With the score now tied, Michalski got the next two batters to fly out, stranding the potential go-ahead run.

With tension mounting, Manhattan Beach dug down to try to end it in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jack Theodore drew a clutch one out walk with Robert White coming in to pinch run.

After another out, Rhett Rudnicki was at the plate and proceeded to hit a grounder to third. With White running hard and almost at second base on the hit, the third baseman rushed his throw, sending it over the head of the first baseman. Manager Ira Smith, who was coaching third base, waived White around and White was able to slide around the North Venice catcher and beat the tag for the winning run.

It was a hard-fought game, back and forth, with neither team giving up. Manhattan Beach had left it all on the field, earning a rematch for the Section Championship the next night and handing North Venice its first defeat in All-Star play. Said Rudnicki with a big smile on his face "We want big Slurpees to celebrate!"

Wednesday's game

The game started auspiciously enough, with Manhattan Beach trailing by one entering the bottom of the second inning. After a quick two outs, including a spectacular running catch by left fielder Michalski, North Venice hit a double. Then a ground ball was misplayed in the infield, coupled with a walk, hit batter and single that pushed the lead to 3-1 with the bases loaded. 

North Venice third baseman Javier Garcia then hit a towering shot for a grand slam home run off the right field foul pole. The second inning ended with the score 7-1.

Manhattan Beach tried to once more come back, scoring another run in the top of the fourth inning, but left the bases loaded. The team left the bases loaded again in the sixth inning. 

Offensively, the team had a solid nine hits, including a triple by Mitchell Meyer and five walks, almost the same production as the prior game’s win. 

However, the team left 10 runners on base and was never quite able to get the key hit to put them back in the game. Moreover, four base running miscues took potential runs off the score board and ended innings prematurely. 

Four defensive errors combined with four runs allowed on passed balls/wild pitches made stopping a strong North Venice line up difficult. The game ended in the sixth inning when the 10-run mercy rule kicked in with Manhattan Beach trailing 2-12. 

Manager Smith put it in perspective during the post-game speech for the boys and parents. "North Venice is a very strong team, one of the better opponents we’ve faced and being the only team to beat them says a lot about this Manhattan Beach team. Every player should be proud of how far the team advanced, making it to the Sectional Championship. It just wasn't our night tonight. That's baseball." 

Said Coach Mark Macdonald, “Baseball is a cruel game. The Manhattan Beach boys hit the ball hard, but they always seemed to find a North Venice glove. On the other hand, North Venice was fortunate to have some bloopers and bleeders find holes. The boys fought hard and grew as baseball players and people. They will face many more stressful situations in their baseball career and life. This experience will benefit them greatly during those moments.”

The previously unbeaten North Venice team had won the District 25 title in dominating fashion, outscoring its four opponents by a 49-9 margin and mercying West Los Angeles 13-3 in six innings in the final. If a team can be measured by the quality of its opponent, then these Manhattan Beach boys have a lot to feel good about. The team finished with a 6 and 2 record, winning District 36 undefeated in qualifying for Sectional play.

The Manhattan Beach team consists of Jordan Bremer, Luke Jelmini, Will Lacey, Jake Lane, Luke McCauley, Mitchell Meyer, Jackson Michalski, Glen Mitchel, Rhett Rudnicki, Michael Rumpp, Jack Theodore and Robert White.