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Westchester reliever Dominic Johnson was extraordinary on Saturday night. Photo, Scott Zeidman.
Dateline Moses Lake, WA – Westside Baseball's Westchester Babe Ruth's 14-and-under team defeated overmatched Rhode Island 11-7 Sunday in the second game of World Series pool play. Westchester (2-0) took control of the game early, scoring six before Rhode Island could record an out.
Leadoff hitter Justin Morris singled and scored moments later on a Kelvin Escobar double to right. Aaron Greenfield singled in Escobar. Nolan Martinez walked, and pitcher Saul Martinez singled in Greenfield. After a Derek Marshall double and two outs, left fielder Dailin Lee hit the tournament's first home run, a 365-foot three-run shot to right, and the outcome of the game never was in question.
Westchester characteristically struggled in the field, committing six errors. Rhode Island battled, keeping the game close, but never really threatening. Westchester starting pitcher Saul Martinez pitched well for six innings before giving way to lefty Eli Saucedo who closed the game with an uneventful seventh inning.
Lee, the game’s Most Valuable Player, was the offensive standout, scoring twice and knocking in three runs. Nolan Martinez was nearly perfect at the plate, going two for three and walking twice
Westchester is unbeaten in pool play with games against Florida and Washington remaining.
In the Beginning
Although Babe Ruth Baseball’s travel agents didn’t do Westside Baseball’s Westchester Babe Ruth 14-and-under All-Stars any favors in the opening game of the World Series, nothing could stop Westchester.
They opened up the World Series on Saturday with a 7-1 victory over the Pacific Northwest champion, Mound Time of Oregon.
Westchester, now 1-0 in pool play, faces Northeast champion New Hampshire at 2 o’clock today.
On Friday, the Westchester players took an afternoon flight from LAX to Seattle, by way of Sacramento, where they boarded a bus for a three- hour drive to Moses Lake. For a variety of reasons, the team did not arrive in Moses Lake until 1 o’clock Saturday morning, wherein they endured a long orientation meeting. Finally paired up with their host families, the players arrived at their week-long homes past 2 a.m. They had an early wakeup call for the “Breakfast of Champions” and the Opening Ceremonies. After few hours of much-needed rest, the team was scheduled to face Pacific NorthwestcChampion Oregon at 8 o’clock Saturday evening.
It came as no surprise when the players showed lethargically up for pre-game activities. Yet, come game time, at least the bats were awake. The visiting Westchester team opened the game with leadoff hitter Justin Morris taking a pitch to the shoulder. Kelvin Murillo executed a perfect hit-and- run, singling to right as the Oregon second basemen moved to cover second. With runners on first and third, Aaron Greenfield singled to right, scoring Morris. Nolan Martinez singled to right, scoring Murillo. Saul Martinez grounded into a double play, with Greenfield crossing the plate. Westchester had a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first.
Westchester Manager Hector Zamora chose Nolan Martinez to start on the mound. Martinez was a bit shaky, walking two and striking out two, before Oregon’s Kyle Thompson hit a run-scoring single to left, making it 3-1.
Martinez induced Oregon’s Matt Clark to ground to first, ending the threat. After Westchester failed to score in the top of the second, Martinez took the mound holding the 3-1 lead. It became obvious this just wasn’t Martinez’s day. He hit one batter and walked another, putting runners on first and second with one out. Zamora, having seen enough, went to relief pitcher Dominic Johnson. The decision by Zamora proved to be brilliant, as Johnson pitched the game of his life. After giving up a bunt single to load the bases, Johnson pitched out of the jam, striking out Oregon’s No. 3 hitter, Casey McGough, and getting the Oregon cleanup hitter, Renner Stecki, to pop weakly to second to end the inning and Oregon’s only real chance.
Johnson, who earned game MVP honors, mowed down Oregon the rest of the way, giving up five hits while striking out three. The effective Johnson didn’t walk an Oregon batter en route to the World Series victory.
Westchester scored a single run in the fourth inning when first basemen Derek Marshall doubled to right, went to third on a Johnson groundout, and scored on a Dailin Lee line drive single to center. Westchester added two more in the top of the fifth. Murillo walked, stole second, and scored on a Greenfield fly to left that was mishandled by the Oregon defender. Third basemen Saul Martinez doubled to right and pinch-runner Brandon Brown scored on a wild pitch, giving Westchester a 5-1 lead in the fifth. Westchester scored solo runs in the sixth and the seventh giving them the 7-1 victory.
After the game, Johnson was understandably excited. “This was a very important game,” he said. “We’ve had some problems in the past in the first game. But today the players really picked things up. With such a great defensive team behind me, I knew all I had to do was throw strikes. I knew that we would score runs. Just look at this lineup, one through nine, these guys can rake!”
Mr. Zeidman may be contacted at scz90230@yahoo.com
