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Sports

Youth Baseball Ready for All-Stars

The Manhattan Beach Little League Senior Playoffs begin Friday; championship and All-Star team selected Saturday—local players hope to continue successes from last year.

The Manhattan Beach Senior League, made up of six teams with players from Hermosa, Manhattan and Redondo Beach, has been taking to the field developing its skills for the summer.

The top four teams will compete Friday in games at 4 and 7 p.m. for a spot in the championship game to be held at Mira Costa High School on Saturday at 1 p.m.

And following the championship, the announcement of this year’s Manhattan Beach All-Stars will be made at 3:30 p.m.

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The Senior League—the pipeline for determining the Manhattan Beach All-Star team—captured the Western Region Crown last year and in Bangor, Maine.

The feat was a first for any Manhattan Beach team (no prior team had won a Western Region Championship.)

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All-Star’s manager Carlos Rojas helped the local players rattle off 19 straight victories before falling to the host team from Bangor, Maine in the semifinals. Rojas is a varsity pitching coach at Mira Costa during the school season.

“Last year was very special, we didn’t know that we were going to be that successful.  It was something that had not been done before by any team from Manhattan or Hermosa Beach and a phenomenal experience for everyone,” Rojas said.

While the accomplishments of last year’s group have put a charge into the entire South Bay, league play has expanded down to Redondo Beach. Competition figures are expected to heat up in the coming years with more young players joining the league. 

“The Elite team, which is managed by Brian King (of Palos Verdes High) and in its second season, is made up of players from all around the South Bay. This is Redondo’s first year with a Senior League team. I see great growth potential and hope to get us to about 10 teams eventually,” Rojas said.

Manhattan Beach teams have dominated the top of the standings as they head into the playoffs with the Grey and Gold teams tied for first place (8-4-1).

Infielder Christian Reynolds of the Green team has been the top run producer with 14 RBI and is hitting at an impressive .435 clip. 

Mixing contact and speed, outfielders Kevin Lopez (Grey) and Payne English (Black) have made the most of their sky-high batting averages (.588 and .467 respectively) stealing 9 bases each.

Reynolds has not only excelled at the plate, but also on the mound leading the league in wins (3), innings pitched (16 1/3), and strikeouts (23), while narrowly behind Lopez (0.87 ERA) with a 1.10 ERA of his own.

“Originally, I thought pitching would be the key to winning the league, but it’s been hitting. Some of these teams have been hitting the heck out of the ball and scoring a ton of runs,” Rojas said. 

Other players with at least 15 plate appearances include outfielders Will Lacey .700 and Luke McCauley .643.

While the depth of rosters has been most impressive at the plate to this point, Rojas pointed out that it has come from all ages, such as many 14-year old players who have no high school experience like Lacey and McCauley.

“The young kids have not been intimidated at all. It’s been impressive watching them go up against varsity pitching and get hits,” Rojas said. 

Facilities fundraiser

The new batch of talented players will look to build upon last year’s success and help create a tradition of baseball excellence in the community, Rojas said.

“The intention is for us to use the momentum from last summer to take steps to create better awareness of the league as well as continue to work closely with the city of Manhattan Beach in improving our facilities,” he said. “The City has been very supportive of our efforts and great improvements are on the way.”

With the vast majority of Senior League games played at Marine Park’s Field, Rojas and the Manhattan Beach Senior League Fundraising Committee have spearheaded a project to support equipping the “Big Marine” (as the field is known) with stadium seating for 145 people.

More information about the fundraising project can be found online.

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