2014 marked the 6th Year that we've partnered up with Fountain Valley Pony Baseball to run their annual Memorial Day Tournament. To get personal, I grew up playing Fountain Valley Pony before travel baseball was a blip on the radar. As the Mustang A All-Star team, we advanced to the Zone Playoffs before losing to Charter Oak All-Stars (one of Fountain Valley's many rivals). State Director Craig Ciandella and his two sons (myself and my brother), have spent more time at Mile Square Park in the last 20 years than anyone else. To be able to run the PONY Memorial Day Tournament is a true honor. We shattered last year's team count with 104 teams, all while having one less field to work with. Time will only tell what the team count will be for next year.
Before we continue, we would like to thank all the All-Star and Travel Ball teams for making the three day weekend very smooth and conflict free. With over 200 games at one park, conflict is unavoidable, but teams handled themselves with dignity and remembered that no matter what happened, it's a game of baseball and it's for the kids.
6-Under:
As I've said in previous years, 6-Under Baseball is the most hilarious, and at the same time, stressful things to watch. Still learning the fundamentals of the game, defensive and offensive coaches (as well as every parent in the stands), are telling the young All-Stars where to the throw the ball and where to run.
FVPB and Charter Oak have a reputation for producing some of the strongest All-Star teams in California, and Diamond MVP has a longstanding history of producing some of the best travel teams in the country. It was only fitting that all three teams advanced to the 6-Under playoffs. Charter Oak found themselves on top of Fountain Valley for the second time in the weekend, advancing them to the Finals against the 1st Seed Diamond MVP.
Charter Oak was unable to upset the undefeated Diamond MVP though. Both teams played solid defense, but Diamond MVP's hitting proved too much for Charter Oak, scoring 18 runs to take home the first of many trophies for these talented young players.
Host team Fountain Valley ran into a snag on Sunday during Pool Play. After winning their game on Saturday, they lost their first game on Sunday to Cypress PONY. Now 1-1, Fountain Valley had to win their next game if they wanted to advance to the playoffs. Tyler Peshke and Jacob Demaria combined for 4 innings of shutout baseball, giving Fountain Valley the crucial victory, and moving them on to Monday's playoffs as the 2nd Seed.
Now on Monday, Thomas Rosenbusch turned in an amazing pitching performance, shutting out their opponents and moving Fountain Valley to the finals. Now facing Cypress PONY yet again, there was no doubt it would be hard fought game. Neither team had any missteps on defense, and in the end, it came down to situation and clutch hitting. Fountain Valley got their payback, and came out on top with a 7-5 victory.
10-Under Red:
Fountain Valley and Los Alamitos All-Star teams had a great weekend. Claiming four 1st Place finishes each, the two rivals battled hard the entire weekend.
In the 10-Under Red, they didn't meet until the last game of the tournament. Fountain Valley was undefeated and Los Alamitos had already gotten their payback against the team that handed them their one loss. However, Los Al was unable to break Fountain Valley's perfect weekend. Fountain Valley was able to hop out in front early and hold a tired Los Al to just three runs and take home the 1st Place trophy.
12-Under Red:
With just four local A All-Star teams battling in the 12-Under Red Division, teams had plenty of opportunities to feel out their eventual All-Star Tournament rivals. Los Alamitos towered over the competition with some 12 Year Olds that hit early growth spurts. Moving easily through Pool Play, Los Al entered the playoffs as the undefeated 1st Seed.
What they weren't expecting in their first Playoff game was a scrappy effort by the Fountain Valley A team. Picked apart by travel teams, the Fountain Valley A was scrapping the best they could through the weekend. Despite being the 4th Seed, they came ready to play on Sunday. Taking the early lead, it was looking like a monumental upset. Los Al wasn't ready to give up though. Finally getting their bats warmed up, they headed into the Bottom of the 6th Inning down 7-5. With one runner on, a ball found the gap, going for an inside the park home run, and tying the game at 7-7.
Now in extra innings, Los Al lead the inning off with a base hit. After stealing second base, an errant pick off attempt pushed the game winning run to third base. Now a simple sacrifice fly brought home the game winning run, and sent Los Al to the Championship game.
Despite battling in extra innings, Los Al came out firing on all cylinders for the Championship game. Shutting out their opponents, they put up the five runs they needed for a 5-0 victory, giving them the hard earned 1st Place Trophy.
Thank you to all the All-Star and Travel teams that played in the FVPB / USSSA Baseball Memorial Day Tournament. Here is a list of all the Champions and Runner Ups.
See you on the fields
-AC
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