Manhattan/Hermosa Beach Junior All-Stars reach World Series
Manhattan/Hermosa Beach Little League reached the Junior League World Series in Taylor, MI for the second time in three years as the West Region champions and will open pool play Saturday against Southwest champion Rutherfordton, NC.
After a day off, Manhattan/Hermosa Beach will play East representative Newark, DE on Monday. The boys from the South Bay will face Central champion Midland, MI on Tuesday and Southeast’s Corpus Christi, TX on Wednesday.
The U.S. and International championship games featuring the top two teams in each pool will take place Thursday. The World Championship game will be held Saturday, Aug. 16 at 11 a.m. and be shown live on ESPN3.
Members of the Manhattan/Hermosa Beach team include Joey Acosta, Garrett Auville, Merrick Baldo, Dylan Dennis, Jake Gordon, Logan Kane, Nick Locke-Henderson, Sean McDonald, Nathan Nykaza, Chris Penna, Wyatt Robb, Nick Solan, Jesse Storey, manager Keith Ramsey and assistant coaches Jackson Morrow and Matt Sugarman.
Manhattan/Hermosa Beach reached the World Series by winning the 11-team West Region in Vancouver, WA with a 6-0 record defeating state champions from Washington, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Northern California (Pleasanton) and Arizona again in the finals, 16-4. The team outscored opponents 76-25.
Junior teams consist of 13 and 14-year-olds, primarily kids who just finished 8th grade however, the Manhattan/Hermosa team has two players who just completed 9th grade and were on the Mira Costa Frosh team and two who recently finished 7th grade.
Celebrating its 34th year, the Junior League World Series is the “older brother” of the Little League World Series held annually in Williamsport, PA, for the best teams of 12-year-olds. The Little League World Series is celebrating its 75th this year.
It’s uncommon for two teams from the same Little League to reach their respective World Series, but Manhattan Beach/Hermosa was three outs away from accomplishing the feat.
The league’s Senior All-Stars fell to Hawaii 12-4 in the Western Regional championship game after surrendering 10 runs in the 7th inning.
The team consisted of Reese Alexiades, David Arredondo, Matt Bessera, Nick Brown, Ty Conrad, Dom Devico, Nathan Draves, Joey Hanson, Ben Laduke, Rollie Nichols, Carson Phillips, Jason Schwartz, Colton Sizemore, Jake Symon, Kohl Titzler, James Tullio, manager Hugh Quattlebaum and assistant coaches Aaron Meyers and Carlos Rojas.
For updates and results of the Junior World Series, visit cityoftaylor.com/worldseries.