Falls Church Kiwanis Little League closed its 63rd season last week with its Championship Tournaments for the A, AA, AAA and Majors Divisions. This year, approximately 500 children from the greater Falls Church area, between the ages of 5 and 12, participated on more than 24 teams across the six divisions.
Majors (ages 10-12)
For the second year in a row, the Orioles claimed the Majors Tournament Championship with a win over the Red Sox 13-2. Oriole’s pitcher Robert Guenther slammed his 11th home run of the season and struck out seven over four innings. O’s shortstop Chris Beddow maintained strong defensive play throughout the game, and first baseman Crosby Gamble hit the fence for a double. Catcher and closing pitcher, Jake Abruzzi held the Sox to two runs. The Orioles (16-0) finished with back-to-back undefeated regular and tournament seasons (2010-2011).
FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS: Orioles (14-0), Red Sox (9-5), Yankees (8-6), Nationals (6-8), Cubs (3-11), A’s (1-13)
Triple A (ages 9-11)
The Pirates hosted the Rangers for the AAA tournament championship. Earlier in the week, the Pirates outlasted the Cardinals for the regular season championship while the Rangers had upset the Mets and the Cards to reach the big game. The Rangers started quick with a double by Hollman Smith, and singles by Matthew O’Cadiz and Greg Mayer gave the Rangers an early lead. Gavin McNabb caught line drives to stop Pirates batters. On the mound, the Pirate’s Peter McComb shook off scorching heat to notch notch 5 strikeouts after the early hits. McComb gave way to Mat Padgett, who mowed down the Rangers batters with 4 strikouts. The Pirates mounted a comeback in the third inning when Rose Award winner Nathan Sperry singled, followed by a double by Coleman Blakeley. The Pirates added more in the fourth, when Cale Reinfurt, Harrison Nixon, and Aidan Gray hit to score runs and take the lead. After a delay due to weather, the game resumed on June 10. The Rangers tied on steady plate awareness by Calvin Maddox and Colin Nininger, and an RBI by Cooper Maguire. The Pirates, however, roared back with 5 runs on doubles by Josh King and Tyler Nelson. Nelson provide clutch relief pitching to secure the win by getting three outs with bases loaded, ended by a put out at third by Nixon. The final score was 11-7, Pirates in a great game for both teams.
FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS: Pirates (9-5), Cardinals (9-5), Mets (9-5), Dodgers (8-6), Phillies (6-8), Rangers (1-13)
Double A (ages 8-10)
The championship game between the Lugnuts and Scrappers started on June 9th and finished up on June 10th due to a weather delay. The game started off with hot batting by the Lugnuts. Both Jack Taylor and Mark Barakat came up with key hits and scored in the top of the first inning to take the early 2-0 lead. Scrappers Evan Jones started off the bottom side of the inning with a single, followed by RBIs by Simon Lundquist, Nick Sharrer and Jack Coburn. Lugnuts Jake Pigeon shut down the Scrappers in the second inning and Evan Jones and Simon Lundquist pitched very well for the Scrappers as well. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Connor Carlson started off a big inning by scoring as did Prescott Starke, Simon Lundquist, and Nick Sharrer. The Lugnuts Yana Rogers was up at the plate in the 4th inning when the storm rolled in and the game was postponed. When play resumed the next evening, both teams continued the impressive play. The Scrappers pitcher Prescott Starke held the Lugnuts scoreless with help on defense by Hunter and Roman Pena, Owen Ossman, Jimmy Alverson and Jonathan Oppenheimer and added runs being led off by Ben Handly. Zach Deely, Alex Pigeon, Conor Brennan, and Declan Quill turned in nice efforts on both sides of the diamond for the Lugnuts. In a game that was much closer than the score, the Scrappers finished the year as regular season and playoff tournament Champions. Lugnuts 3, Scrappers 12.
FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS: Scrappers (9-1), Lugnuts (8-2-1), Rockhounds (4-7), Sand Gnats (4-6-1), Storm (4-6), Blue Claws (2-9)
Single A (ages 7-9)
The winners of the 1st half of the season, Express, played the winners of the 2nd half, Mudcats, for the Regular Season Championship. The Mudcats took the early lead 10-0 by the end of the 2nd inning. The Mudcat bats were on fire with a nice shot to the grass by Ben Yam, and other good hits made by Cole Little (went 4 for 4), Alejandro Martinez, Tommy Donovan, Maggie Discipio (went 3 for 3), Sam Garza, Ellie Moonis (went 3 for 3), Jack Turner (went 3 for 3), and Maggie Moonis. The Mudcat fielding was outstanding with great defensive outs by Aaron Gaston, Charlie Perez, and a amazing, heads-up double play by Noah Cha. The Express rallied back in the 4th inning with 5 runs of their own with solid hits by Felix Barth, Alex Hansen, Tyler Bledsoe, and Ben Ellis. In the 5th inning, Rishi Singh of the Express knocked a rocket to the Westgate 1 right-field fence sending runners home, but the Mudcat lead was untouchable. Final score Mudcats 16, Express 10.
On Wednesday, June 8th, Mudcats and Express met again to battle it out for the Tournament Championship. The Express led the whole game up until the final inning when the Mudcats fought back hard to win it 3-2. Fielding was the name of the game tonight as both teams recorded excellent defensive outs. Hot bats were had by Benjamin Yam, Aaron Gaston, and Noah Cha who hit a walk off double in the final inning to win the game.
FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS: Express (8-2-2), Mudcats (8-3-1), Ironbirds (4-5-3), Raptors (5-7), Muckdogs (3-6-3), Bees (3-8-1)
