The 11/12's came together beautifully tonight against the West Long Beach squad. Ian Konek, Matthew Fields, and Mondesi Blanchard combined to strike out 8, and allowed only one baserunner in four innings. The team had 17 hits in the game--all but one player scored a run--and were led by Matthew Fields, who hit two home runs, and Mondesi Blanchard and Tiger Jablonski, who hit one home run apiece. The LVLL Little League All Stars will take on Long Beach this Thursday at 7:30 pm at Stearns Park.
The majority of the players for the all stars made it out to Stearns Park, home of Long Beach Little League, by 3:45pm today. Our opponents arrived at about 4:15-4:30, which demonstrates the commitment the boys have. It was also apparent that the young chaps had their minds on one thing today: winning. I hit fly balls for about 20-30 minutes and the boys lined up and took ball after ball with maximal effort. Additionally, one coach threw batting practice and another did bunting practice off to the side. It was a sight to see, and they were indeed a sight to see: Christian making it to third on a triple that barely made it to the wall, with his blazing speed; Matthew (Ripper) continuing his hot streak with 3 strikeouts in one inning plus three hits and two home runs, both absolutely stung; Tiger's first home run in about a month, which was crushed to right center field, a ball not too high and not too low, majestic in arc. It was splendid seeing the Dodgers' rivals from this year join up forces with us, brothers in arms.
As for the next game, it figures to be Mondesi pitching against a lad from Long Beach by the name of Jay, who stands in at a mean 6'2" (remember: 12 years old). And with Long Beach Little League's mound being a miniature version of Mount Everest, Jay will look more like 7 feet tall. Are we daunted? Nope!
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