LBLL Intermediate All-Stars reach District 55 semifinals

The Laguna Beach Little League Intermediate (11-12 year olds) All-Star team had a strong run at the District 55 All-Star Tournament, winning three games.

That run, though, came to an end in the division semifinals.

Laguna won two elimination games to reach the semifinals where it was defeated by Newport Beach for the second time in the tournament, this time, by a 17-7 score.

Laguna opened the tournament with a 12-6 win over Rancho Niguel, then dropped an 8-5 game to Newport Beach. The All-Stars battled back to win consecutive games in elimination play. First, they routed Northwood, 22-3. Then, they beat Rancho Niguel for a second time by rallying for an 11-8 win.

In the 22-3 win over Northwood, Laguna received contributions from throughout its lineup. Gavin Trevino, Cooper Noriega and Luke Lavin shared pitching duties. Hitting home runs were Trevino, Paxton Burzell, Caden Capobianco and Jack Payne.

In its fourth game, Laguna fell behind Rancho Niguel, 4-0, in the opening inning. Laguna rallied to tie the score at 4-4, and the score still was tied (8-8) heading into the sixth. Booker Frith delivered an RBI-single for the go-ahead run and Lavin followed with a two-run double. Payne closed the game in the seventh to complete the 11-8 comeback win.

Laguna again fell into a hole in its semifinal rematch against Newport Beach and couldn’t recover from an 8-0 deficit. Laguna fought back to pull to within 9-7 in the fourth on a home run by Quinn Novick and two-run double by Nolan Naess, but Newport Beach used another big scoring inning to pull away.

The Laguna Beach Intermediate All-Star Team: Ryan Anthony; Paxton Burzell; Caden Capobianco; Connor Fink; Drew Fink; Booker Frith; Luke Lavin; Landon Losey; Nolan Naess; Cooper Noriega; Quinn Novick; Jack Payne; Gavin Trevino. Manager: Coby Naess. Coaches: Mike Fink, Lee Novick.

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•The Laguna Beach 9/10 All-Star Team begins its district tournament Sunday against Lake Forest at 1 p.m. June 28 at Crown Valley Elementary School in Laguna Niguel. The double-elimination tournament runs through July 12.

9/10 All-Stars: Shea Blanchard; Nick Bonn; Brandon Britt; Max Burchi; Joey Capobianco; Bryce Ford; Boden Gillette; Jett Hamil; Luke Machin; Griffin Naess; Benjamin Reimers; Ryan Strickland; Blake Sullivan. Manager: Tom Reimers. Coaches: Steve Britt, Paul Machin.

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•The Laguna Beach 8/9 All-Star Team opens Super Stars tournament action at 10 a.m. Saturday when it takes on Lake Forest (No. 2) at Las Lomas Park in Irvine. The double-elimination tournament ends July 11.

8/9 All-Stars: Cade Anderton; Sam Burchi; Redmond Chesley; Ben Dawson; Camden Dowers; Luke Fetzer; Jack Gallo; Gehrig Mackay; Dylan McEachern; Noah Neufeld; Logan Pointon; Jackson Rowley; Taylor Towe. Manager: Chad Anderton; Coaches: Orin Neufeld, Joe Mackay.

— From staff reports