Little League All-Stars Head to Section Tournament

It's been a special summer so far for the Santa Monica West 9- & 10-year-old all-stars and they don't want it to end anytime soon.

Managed by Brian Corrigan, the Little League squad routed West Los Angeles Tuesday to win the District 25 All-Star Baseball Tournament and earn one of four berths in the Section 4 playoffs, which begin on Saturday in Manhattan Beach.

Just as it had in the winner's bracket semifinals, Santa Monica West won the rematch with West LA 11-3, thanks to a six-run first inning.  

Starting pitcher J.P. Corrigan struck out the side in the first--all three strikeouts on 3-2 counts--but not before allowing three walks to load the bases. 

In the second inning, West LA pulled to within 6-2 after a lead-off single, a double, a strikeout, a single and two walks. Having thrown 65 pitches, Corrigan was lifted for Ryan Bunting, who struck out the next two batters with the bases loaded to end the inning, struck out the side in the third, and struck out two more in the fourth.

Bunting finished with nine strikeouts in four and 2/3 innings.  

"With a big lead, I wanted to give him [J.P. Corrigan] rest so he'd be available Saturday," Brian Corrigan said of his son. "As it turned out, Ryan will have sufficient rest and will be able to pitch as well, so it all worked out. He came in and threw strikes, which is what we needed from him."

The offensive leader in the championship game was Chase Rowe, who put Santa Monica West ahead 9-2 on a lead-off home to center in the fourth inning and went three for three with a double and three RBIs.

Corrigan and J.P. Maniscalco each added a single and a double and Grant Smith had two singles for Santa Monica West, which had 12 hits and won the 9-10 District title for the first time since Joe Corrigan, J.P.'s older brother, clubbed five home runs as a 10-year-old in 2005.

Joe, 16, is a first baseman going into his junior year at Harvard-Westlake High in North Hollywood. Brian Corrigan started coaching when Joe was six and is now guiding his younger son J.P.'s team.

J.P. Corrigan went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and a single and pitched the first three innings of Santa Monica West's 11-1 five-inning mercy win over Beverly Hills in the winner's bracket final. As he was in the championship game, Bunting was sharp in relief over the last two innings. He played on Santa Monica West's Giants team that  in the Major Division championship game. 

The championship was especially satisfying for Brian Corrigan, who managed the 9-10s through the winner's bracket last season only to see the team drop two straight to Culver City in the championship round and miss the chance to advance.

"We were determined not to let that happen again," he said. "From what I've heard, the team we play next has a number of players on a travel ball team called the Heaters so it's going to be a challenge."

Every player contributed to Santa Monica West's success throughout the tournament, as it outscored the opposition 58-14 in five games and won all of them by no less than seven runs.

Rounding out West's roster are Luca Decristo, Sam Chessler, Jared Levin, Aidan Rosen, James McCormick, Alan Schlessinger and Ethan Enriquez. 

Santa Monica West opens Section 4 play against host Manhattan Beach at 3 p.m. Saturday at Marine East Field in Manhattan Beach. Should Santa Monica West win, it will play again Sunday at 3 p.m. If it loses, it plays Sunday at noon in the four-team, double-elimination bracket.

In the 10-11 Division, Manager John Solberg's Santa Monica East all stars also advanced through the winner's bracket,  in the final last Thursday. However, needing to win only one of two games in the championship round against Ladera they lost 18-8 Tuesday and 9-2 Wednesday.

It was an impressive tournament nonethless for Solberg's squad and afterwards he spread the praise around--to a worthy opponent, to his fellow coaches, his players' parents and families, even to the umpires and scorekeepers at Ladera Little League, the host site.

"I'm really proud of all the kids," Solberg said. "Ladera is an excellent team and we came up a little short, but the boys proved they are the guttiest, toughest group of kids. Every player on the team is terrific and it was a pleasure coaching them."

Ladera hit three home runs in the second inning to open a 6-0 lead in the decisive game and Santa Monica East rallied for two in the top of the sixth but had too big a deficit to overcome in its last at-bat.