NBLL majors: Mariners-Dodgers ready to battle for title

NEWPORT BEACH - The Mariners needed extra innings to advance to

tonight’s Newport Beach Little League AAA Division Championship.

Tommy Colton’s one-out single in the bottom of the eighth inning drove

in Anna Palchikoff and gave the M’s a 4-3 win over the Diamondbacks

Saturday in semifinals action.

Palchikoff reached base on an infield single and advanced to second on

a single by Sean Tokuyama before Colton’s hit ended the game.

The Mariners scored first in the third inning when Palchikoff walked,

stole second and eventually scored on a passed ball.

The Cardinals jumped ahead in the fourth inning, thanks to an RBI

double by Camden Nicholson and an RBI single by Grant Keligan.

The M’s answered back with two runs of their own in the fourth, thanks

to solid offensive contributions by Kirk MacDonald, Eric Hansen and

Philip Patterson.

Keligan’s sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth inning brought in

Nicholson to tie the game, forcing extra innings.

Colton preserved the tie in the top of the eighth with a diving catch

near the plate with Cardinal runners on second and third.

Other Mariner heroes included Zak Maurer-Hansen, Ryan Gladych and Cory

MacDonald, who each had key defensive plays.

The Cardinals were led with strong contributions from Michael Epstein,

Brett Weinberger, Kevin Tsou and Doug Kelly.

On the other side of the championship equation, the AAA Dodgers used

solid pitching from John Doering and Michael Bloom to defeat the

Diamondbacks, 4-1, in semifinal action Saturday.

The pitching duo held the D’Backs to only two hits and were supported

defensively by Reed Zachman, J.P. Fleming and Grant Jackson.

Bloom also added an RBI hit for the Dodgers, while Gavin Koontz scored

a key run after walking and stealing second and third.

The Diamondbacks were led by the power hitting of Kendall Pick and

Jerry Kazmierczak as well as the strong pitching of Merrett Scott and

Mason Sayer.

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks will battle for the AAA title tonight at

5 p.m. at Lincoln Elementary.