Not one but two
Manhattan Beach Little League teams - the 50/70 All Star team and the 12U All Star team - have won their
district championships and are advancing to their respective section
tournaments.
With the 50/70 section tournament underway this weekend, Manhattan Beach's 50/70 team won its first game in the
section tournament in North Venice on Saturday.
These wins are significant for both the teams themselves and for Manhattan Beach Little League, which suffered setbacks during the two years of COVID restrictions, said Manhattan Beach Little League President Andrew Shevin.
"Youth sports were crushed during COVID," said Shevin. "We were shut down, and we lost a lot of players. So it's great for both the players and the families to hear these good news stories."
50/70 Team Advances in Section Tournament
Manhattan
Beach's 50/70 All-Star team (called 50/70 because it uses a modified
baseball field for 12- and 13-year-olds with a 50-foot pitching distance
and 70-foot base paths) is comprised of mostly 13-year-old rising 8th
graders. The team is managed by Dom DeVico and coached by Frank Wicks,
Ty Conrad, and Jim Whalen.
The 50/70 team won the District 36 championship in a three-game series last week, beating Redondo Beach two games to one. That game advanced the
50/70 All Stars to the Sectional Championships, which began in North
Venice on Saturday, July 2.
At Saturday's section championship game, the
50/70 All Stars won game one against Torrance Little League, by a score
of 7-6 in extra innings (eight innings total) "to keep the magic going," said Whalen.
The
50/70 All Star team roster includes Josh Anger, Maddox Chang, Harrison
Checketts, Collin Laffoon, Luca Lombardo, Max Lane, William McDonald,
Pierce O’Brien, August Peterman, Evan Steele, Dylan Thompson, Chase
Wallace, Luke Walsh, and Brady Whalen.
12U All Star Team Wins District Championship
Meanwhile, Manhattan Beach Little League's 12U (12 and under) All Star team defeated Rolling Hills
1-0 on a walk-off hit to win a hard-fought District 36 Championship against seven other teams.
"It's a very hard-to-win district because there are so many teams," said Shevin, who called the team's district win "incredible."
The 12U All-Star team players are London Beck, Hayden Bradfield, Nate Cappetta, Chase Curren, Chance Levy, Jesse Lyter, Trey Lyter, Jack Quigley, Hudson Radden, Linus Sinclair, Jesse Tarango, Pax Vigon, and Grady Zielin. Coaches include Kevin Quigley, Jamie Cappetta, and Derek Zielin.
The team will now advance to the Section Tournament, which begins in mid-July.
The 12U group is a fun group to watch, added Shevin, because that is the age group that eventually moves to the nationally broadcast
Little League World Series, which will be held this year from August 17-28.
Manhattan Beach Little League, founded in 1958, is one of the oldest Little League organizations in the country. At the time of its 50th anniversary in 2008 Manhattan Beach Little League was also the largest in the country with more than 1,700 participants. (The softball division has since separated from Little League).
