Bryce Alderton
Dominic Disano put his hands flat on the grass, extended his legs and
began doing push-ups Wednesday afternoon, though not for any physical
fitness test.
Another exam took place at Boras Field on the campus of Lincoln
Elementary -- the Newport Beach Little League triple-A championship
game -- won by Disano's Red Sox, 14-5, over the top-seeded
Diamondbacks.
The Red Sox, ranked third out of the 12 teams heading into the
postseason tournament, came back from a 4-0 deficit to plate 14 runs
in the final three innings, clinching the championship and a spot in
the District 55 Tournament of Champions for Manager Jim Lawson.
The D-backs (19-5-2) came into Thursday's game undefeated (3-0) in
the playoffs, while the Red Sox needed to beat the Yankees on Monday
in the final game of the loser's bracket to advance to the title
game.
"These kids have faced challenges the last two weeks and they
refuse to lose," Lawson said. "They have learned how to control their
emotions and channel it on the field. They stayed focused and left
nothing out there."
The concentration Lawson spoke of showed in the Red Sox's timely
hitting, alert baserunning and virtually mistake-free defense. They
committed only one error.
The D-backs committed five errors, helping to add fuel to the Red
Sox fire, D-backs' Manager Duane Hastings said.
"The whole game was unearned," Hastings said. "Nothing seemed to
go right. [The Red Sox] scored five runs without hitting the ball out
of the infield. We didn't make the plays on defense."
Leading, 4-0, the D-backs encountered rough seas in the top of the
fourth inning when the Red Sox plated five runs.
Spencer Haly, playing for the first time in two weeks after
fracturing his right elbow, led off and reached first after he was
hit by a pitch. Brent Lawson, Nathan Wagner, Jake Starnes, Alexander
Morrison and Zachary Morrison all reached on infield singles with
Haly, Lawson, Starnes, Morrison and Dylan Varner all scoring.
Lawson, who went 2 for 4 with four RBIs and two runs scored while
pitching the first three innings, hit a grounder that deflected off
of D-back starter Sandon Griffin's shoe and caromed into shallow
right field. An errant throw past the third baseman allowed Haly to
advance to third and when a subsequent throw got past the catcher,
Haly attempted to score, which he did, but he had to make sure.
At the urging of his brother, Tyler, Spencer Haly -- already near
the backstop -- ran back to touch the plate.
