Little League Roundup: Season hits halfway point

Scotts Valley Little League
AA Division
Mudcats 9, Volcanoes 6
Players started pitching as the AA season hit its halfway point. The Mudcats’ Shane Burns struck out the side in the fourth and fifth innings and doubled to score two runs. Jordan Olhava had two hits, Jake Thornley singled and knocked in two runs, and Wesley Jones reached base twice and scored both times.
Nolan Fish and Jacob Mealiffe each had three hits for the Volcanoes, and Ryan Linn, Dominic Papagni-Martinez, Anthony Petrini and Matt Ellis singled.
Mudcats 11, Bulls 6
Defense was the hallmark of this game, as the Mudcats’ Mason Cato caught two line drives at shortstop and Shane Burns and Asher Reynolds made great stretch-and-scoops at first base. Jake Thornley was the team’s big hitter, with three singles and a run scored, while Burns, Alex Reynolds and Parker Smith each doubled and combined for five RBIs. 
The Bulls’ Branden Marty and Jaden Ulrich each recorded several putouts in the field, Zac Yates had two RBIs on a single and a double, and Spencer Ballier knocked in two runs.
AAA Division
Braves 13, Astros 9
The Braves were paced by RBI singles by Erik Olson and E.J. Bright and singles from Shane Ford and Ian Gallagher, both of whom later scored. Joe Murray pitched the fifth inning for the Braves and struck out five of the seven batters he faced.
The Astros had hits by Trevor Wiechmann, Zach Snider and Ryan Bariteau, with Snider and Chase Collins each scoring two runs.
Marlins 8, White Sox 3
Marlins pitchers Conor Santos and Mitchell Gaspar combined for 13 strikeouts to get the win. Leadoff hitter Santos went 2-for 2 and was hit by a pitch, Tanner Steen was 2-for-2, and Gaspar had a double and three RBIs.
Those top three hitters in the Marlins’ lineup are hitting .826, .636 and .696 at the halfway point in the season.
Phillies 12, Braves 10
The Phillies’ Kaden Pryor reached base all four times at bat, David Coates had an RBI double and scored three times, and Sage Kaplan had an inside-the-park home run. Mitchell Geringer collected the save for the Phillies, snuffing out a six-run, sixth-inning rally by recording two outs with the bases loaded, one on a strikeout.
Nathan Schaefer and Joe Murray each had two hits in the game for the Braves, while Shane Ford hit a deep triple to left during the sixth-inning rally.
Cubs 10, Marlins 9
The Cubs beat the first-place Marlins on a walk-off, two-run single in the bottom of the sixth by Jordan Smith. Henry Danner was 1-for-1 with two walks, David Nicholson was 1-for-1 and Ian Thomas singled. Defensively, second baseman Connor Wilson turned a double play on one line drive and snagged another to kill a bases-loaded threat from the Marlins.
San Lorenzo Valley Little League
Majors Division
Indians 9, SV Giants 6
The Indians got out to a big early lead and held off the Giants’ late comeback attempts. Ari Solomon homered among three hits, Jonah Shabry went 2-for-4 while pitching five innings, and Tanner Murray went 3-for-3 with a walk and scored four times.
For the Giants, Gregory Neiger had three hits and scored twice, Nick Alvarez, Josh Anderson, Tanner Spence and Ryan Myers all had two hits, and Nathan Pisciotta doubled.
Phillies 10, SV A’s 0
D’Shawn Hopkins allowed a hit and struck out 11 A’s in four innings. Robbie Carling blasted a three-run homer in the first to get the scoring started. Michael Mattoch had a triple and went 2-for-2 on the day for the Phillies.
Red Sox 5, SV Cardinals 4
In a thriller, Nolan Jameson hit a walk-off, two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh-inning to drive in Jared Trader, who had given up the go-ahead run in the top half of the inning.
The Cardinals had taken the lead on a double by Jake Wiecamann and a single by Drew Collishaw. Trader went 4-for-4 and Bryce Nunez had an RBI single.
Minors Division
Giants 12, Pirates 11
Tommy Andersen had a critical strikeout to end a six-run rally by the Pirates that tied the game, and he later hit the game-winning single, driving in teammate Max Noble, who had walked. Manny Smith went 4-for-4 for the winners, and Austin Allen had two doubles for the Giants. Pirate Jenna Solomon walked three times and scored twice, and Jake Hogan went 3-for-3.
Cardinals 3, Yankees 2
Cardinals centerfielder Reese Castagna squeezed the game-ending fly ball with two runners on to preserve the win. Trent Walker and Julian Aldridge pitched two innings each for the Cards, and Elliot Brown threw four for the Yankees. Stevie Markey and Davey George both scored for the Yanks.
AA Division
Angels 13, Dodgers 4
The Angels banged out 21 hits on their way to victory. Aiden Callahan went 3-for-3 with two runs, Quinn Herzon had two doubles, and Reid Olmstead had two singles and scored twice for the Angels.
The Dodgers’ Alex Cadell and Colyn Salcido went 2-for-3, and Dewey Wasuski went 3-for-3.
Red Sox 16, Phillies 4
An RBI double by Trevor Cambron and a single by Ben Yanowitz helped the Sox jump out to a five-run first inning, and they never looked back. Mason Cada went 4-for-4 with two singles, a double and a triple for the Sox.
Vincent Prograce was 3-for-3, Cody Noble 2-for-3 and Chris Markey 2-for-3 for the Phillies.