Santa Monica West Baseball All-Stars Fall in Section Finals

Everything was proceeding according to plan for the Santa Monica West 9- and 10-year-old Little League Baseball All-Stars through two innings of Wednesday night's deciding game of the in Manhattan Beach.

Manager Brian Corrigan's power-hitting squad spotted starting pitcher Chase Rowe a 5-2 lead over West Torrance and appeared well on its way to making the Sub Division Tournament in Santa Barbara. 

West Torrance scored three runs in the bottom of the third and broke the tie with four runs in the fourth to win 9-5 and hand Santa Monica West its second defeat in the double-elimination draw.

"It was a great run and every player at one point in the 10 games had a big hit that made the difference in the game, without which we may never have had the opportunity to win the District or compete for the Section championship," said Corrigan, who was assisted by coaches Jay Smith, Des Bunting and Jim Maniscalco. "West Torrance is a very good team. We have good hitters at the top of our order, but their ace came in with great command of his fastball got it done."

District 25 champion Santa Monica West started out swinging. Ryan Bunting and Rowe singled, and J.P. Maniscalco walked to load the bases with one out in the top of the first inning. Bunting scored when Grant Smith hit into a fielder's choice, then Sam Chesler doubled to drive home Rowe and Maniscalco for a 3-0 lead.

West Torrance scored twice in the bottom of the first, but Santa Monica West widened the gap to 5-2 in the second when Aidan Rosen scored on a sacrifice fly by Bunting and J.P. Corrigan scored from third on an error.  

Corrigan relieved Rowe with one out in the bottom of the third inning, and after runs scored on a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch, Corrigan struck out the next batter. West Torrance scored the tying run when Michael Ezer slid under Corrigan's tag after the ball got by catcher Grant Smith and rolled to the backstop.

"I thought Chase pitched really well given the very tight strike zone," Corrigan said. "West Torrance has a strong lineup and their manager did an excellent job preserving their pitching."

West Torrance sniffed the lead with the bases loaded and two outs, but Corrigan kept it 5-5 by striking out Shea Wissler looking with a fastball on the outside corner to end the inning.

Down to its final at-bat, Santa Monica West put a runner on base in the sixth inning before West Torrance reliever Justin Hight—who hit a two-run home run in the first inning—got a strikeout to end the game. 

Santa Monica West forced a deciding game by beating West Torrance 6-4 Tuesday night. Each team scored one run in the first inning before Santa Monica West put five on the scoreboard in the second to build a 6-1 lead.

Four Santa Monica West errors led to four West Torrance runs in the fifth, but the District 36 champion got no closer. 

The Santa Monica West All-Stars are Bunting, Rowe, Maniscalco, Smith, Chesler, Rosen, J.P. Corrigan, Luca Decristo, Jared Levin, James McCormick, Alan Schlessinger and Ethan Enriquez.  

"At the 9-10 level, the last time we won District 25 was in 2005, when I managed my older son Joe's team," Corrigan said. "No one can remember our 9-10s reaching the Section championship game so I'm extremely proud of this group. We scored 76 times in 10 games against all-star pitchers and batted .423. These boys left it all on the field to represent themselves, their team, their league, their district and their parents extremely well."