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Sports

All-Stars Take Down Arizona, One Win From Series

Austin Henning gets the final outs and a big save as the Manhattan Beach Senior League All-Stars eke out a 3-1 victory in semifinals of the Western Regionals. The Mustangs play Hawaii on Tuesday night for a berth in the World Series.

Carlos Rojas, manager of the Manhattan Beach Senior League All-Stars, was hoping that he wasn't having some sort of reverse flashback as he looked on from the visitor's dugout Monday night in a semifinal game at the Western Regionals.

The home team, the Arizona state champion Mountain View All-Stars, was down to their last out and had the winning run at the plate. 

"We were the ones in the home dugout with the chance to end the game (Sunday) night, and thankfully we did, '' Rojas said. ''I was confident, but started getting a little nervous at the end.''

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The Mustangs went into that final inning with a three-run lead, and after some nerve-wracking minutes were able to pull out a 3-1 victory that puts them into the tournament finals on Tuesday against Hawaii, with the winner advancing to the Senior League World Series Aug. 15 -21 in Bangor, Maine.

"This was such a great effort, our kids have done everything right along the way and we're one win away from accomplishing what we set out to do," Rojas said.

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Mountain View didn't push a run across the plate until there were two outs in the seventh. But it put together a string of three consecutive base hits, none managing to make it very far into the outfield, but enough to produce a run.

With two runners on base, the potential winning run came to the plate in pinch-hitter Adam Bloom. But Mustangs' reliever Austin Henning stuck with his fastball and was able to coax a pop out into the glove of shortstop Turner Conrad, securing the victory for Manhattan Beach.

"You gotta deal with adversity, that's what we've been talking about when things get tough in an inning. You pick your teammates up when you have the chance and they do the same for you," Henning said.

In addition to getting the save, Henning, reached base three times in the game including two singles and an RBI.

The Mustangs got on the scoreboard in the third inning as Brett Clark led off the inning with a single to center field.  Ryan Erickson's sacrifice bunt moved Clark over and Henning hit a chopper to the left side that was misplayed, giving the Mustangs runners at the corners.  Bret Collins then brought Clark home with a sacrifice fly to left field.

"We were more aggressive tonight. We went after first pitch fastballs and we had enough hits and good swings from the top to the bottom of the order to keep our momentum going," Collins said.

The Mustangs would add two more runs in the fifth inning as Clark once again led off the inning reaching base, this time with a walk.  Erickson smashed a Matt Lewis pitch into left center field for a double. 

With Clark just off third base, catcher Cody Erickson attempted to throw out Clark at third, but his throw was high and Clark was able to cross home plate easily. Henning then brought Erickson home with a ground out, enough to get the Mustangs a 3-0 cushion.

Starter Anthony Lombardo went 4 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out five and pitching out of bases loaded situations in the third and fourth innings.

"I was struggling in spots early, I kept getting in those jams, but when I was locating my fastball they couldn't touch it.  We have confidence and just keep at it," Lombardo said.

In the fourth, Lombardo allowed two singles and a walk, loading the bases loaded and one out. He got leadoff hitter Lucas Jacobi to pop-out to third base, then with a 3-2 count against Keaton Boysden, the left-hander got a signal from Rojas to throw a curveball. He executed the breaking pitch perfectly, getting Boysden to take a called third strike. 

"What a pressure pitch! I have confidence in all our guys and I knew Anthony could get the job done," Rojas said.

Both Mustangs' pitchers were aided by the exceptional glove work of catcher Ian McLoughlin, who blocked a number pitches in the dirt and allowed his pitchers to throw secondary pitches out of the strike zone with confidence.    

"I just told our guys to throw strikes and not be afraid to keep the pitches down, they will swing at them," McLoughlin said.

"These past two games were definitely good tests for us and we have our biggest one coming up tomorrow, we are in a good position to get the job done.''

Rojas, who has managed three Babe Ruth League teams to regional finals only to lose to eventual national champion teams, will now have another shot to take a team to the finals.

"We knew Arizona would be tough, Hawaii is going to be on their game we need to keep our pitching and defense going like it has been, I like our chances," Rojas said.

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