Stute steps up for CMNLL Minor A Buckeyes
HUNTINGTON BEACH — Sam Stute was not even sure he was going to be able to play for the Costa Mesa National Little League Minor A Buckeyes on Wednesday night.
A day before, the 11-year-old was at home sick with a fever. He didn’t look ill Wednesday, going three for three for the Buckeyes in their District 62 Tournament of Champions quarterfinal game against the Huntington West Dirtbags.
Stute, the Buckeyes’ leadoff hitter, earned Player of the Game honors. As such, he got to take home the special team Buckeyes helmet and add a sticker to it with his jersey number 27.
There’s room for more stickers on the gray helmet, but that’s it for this season. The Buckeyes were eliminated after losing to the Dirtbags, 13-4, at Wardlow Park.
It ended a sterling season for the 10- and 11-year-olds from Costa Mesa National. Buckeyes Manager Mike Townsend said his squad took a 10-game winning streak into Wednesday’s contest.
“I’ve been coaching for seven or eight years, and this is the first team I’ve ever had where everybody gelled,” Townsend said. “Everybody was a friend, everybody was helping each other. It was a great team. I really thought we could take this all the way to the championship, but this was a quality team we played today. We didn’t play defensively like we typically do, and hey, that’s going to hurt you.”
Huntington West scored five times in the top of the first, before reaching its cap for an inning. Catcher Dustin Soto and pitcher John Vennemeyer each had run-scoring doubles for the Dirtbags, who added another run in the top of the second when Nick Ito’s two-out single to center scored Jacob Ivancovich.
The Buckeyes answered in the bottom of the frame, when Adler Avakian had a one-out single. Jared Townsend and Jaedon Hose-Shea followed with infield singles to load the bases, before Avakian scored on a wild pitch.
Huntington West took the 6-1 lead into the fifth inning, when the visitors scored three unearned runs. Two came home on an infield throwing error with two outs, giving the Dirtbags a 9-1 advantage.
Three of the Dirtbags’ four runs in the final inning were unearned as well. This time, a two-out fly ball to center field couldn’t quite be corralled, and Ivancovich and Wyatt Petrie scored on the play.
“Not typical errors for us,” said Mike Townsend, who had to shuffle some pieces as his catcher Kruz Marcell sat out much of the game defensively because he wasn’t feeling well. Avakian, who caught a line-out at shortstop in the first inning, shifted to catcher and threw a runner out trying to steal in the fourth.
“He’s usually our strong defender at shortstop,” Mike Townsend said of Avakian. “Today we had to move him to catcher, and he even did well there. He’s a really outstanding player. He’s got the right attitude.”
The Buckeyes, to their credit, didn’t go away in the bottom of the sixth. Stute started a one-out rally with a single to center, which was followed by Tyler Humphries’ single to right. Kaiden Kahkosko scored one with a double to center, then Marcell added an RBI infield single. One more run scored as Avakian grounded out to the pitcher, before Dirtbags pitcher Ito got a strikeout to end the game.
Ito, Huntington West’s leadoff hitter, finished three for three with a walk and also made a standout play at shortstop in the bottom of the fourth inning. He snagged a hard-hit ball on a tricky bounce before turning an inning-ending double play.
“He made an amazing play,” said Huntington West Manager Wes Hunnicutt, whose team will play Huntington Valley in the Minor A Tournament of Champions semifinals Thursday night. “That thing was a rocket. I mean, these guys hit the ball. They probably didn’t have their best day today, but hat’s off to [Costa Mesa National], they’re a good team. Anybody that’s here at this point is a good team.”
Adam Fritzsche had a walk for Costa Mesa National, while Simon Wallis, River Shaia, Caeden Connell and Nolan Joyce also contributed. Kahkosko and Stute split pitching duties.
“He pitched well,” Mike Townsend said of Stute, who pitched the final three innings, allowing five hits and striking out three. “We made some mistakes behind him, but he pitched well.”
Stute was glad that he overcame his sickness and played in the finale, and not just because he earned Player of the Game honors for the fourth time this season. He enjoyed being with his teammates one more time as well.
“This is the best team I’ve been on,” Stute said. “This is the first team that I’ve gotten first place on, and the team that we’ve really not struggled to win.”
