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Amazing Run Carries AALL Marlins to All Arcadia Prep Championship
Arcadia Weekly May 24, 2012
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MARLINS: Coach Guy Gruppie, Sr., Team Mom Jennifer Jacson, Manager Marc Mittelman. Top Row: Anders Jaugheri, Josh Mittelman, Sean Jackson and Joshua Yeh.Bottom rowe: Ace Belvoir, Parker Soares, Guy Gruppie Jr., Jason Yasuda, Dylan Malarsan and Ian Walker -Courtesy Photo
Winding up a remarkable week where they played–and won–six elimination games in a span of eight days, the Arcadia American Little League Marlins scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to defeat the Santa Anita Cardinals, 5-2, and win the All Arcadia Prep Baseball Tournament Championship Saturday morning before a packed crowd at Windsor Field.
The Marlins did it the hard way, coming out of the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament that included 11 teams from the Prep divisions of the Arcadia American, Santa Anita and Arcadia National little leagues. It marked the first victory by an AALL team against a Santa Anita team in a little league title game in more than a decade, and also the third straight year an AALL team took the prep championship, following the Angels last year and Tigers in 2010.
In Saturday’s final against a strong and well-coached Cardinals team that had coasted to two of its three tournament victories, the Marlins got four strong innings from starting pitcher Ace Belvoir, who struck out 10 while allowing only two runs before giving way on the mound to Guy Gruppie, Jr., who threw two perfect innings in earning his fourth playoff victory, but first in relief. A bases-loaded walk to Joshua Yeh, who had homered and tripled earlier to drive in the Marlins’ first runs, broke a 2-2 tie and then Prescott Johnson, another key member of the team’s deep pitching staff and one of its best clutch hitters, rifled a line-drive, two-run single into left field to give the Marlins a lead of 5-2, which became the final score.
When Gruppie retired the final Cardinal batter on a comebacker, it set off a racuous celebration on the field that included a dogpile on Manager Marc Mittelman.
Combining excellent pitching and power hitting, the Marlins coasted through the regular season but drew a tough first-round tournament opponent in the Santa Anita Yankees. In an unusually sloppy game, the Yankees outlasted the Marlins, 13-11, and sent the eventual champions onto a challenging loser’s bracket course. This would be tough on any team, but particularly one made up of 7, 8, and 9 year olds. But instead of getting down, the Marlins got after it and quickly recovered their momentum, powered again by excellent pitching, strong defense and timely hitting, including some key home runs.
The road to the final began a week before when the Marlins defeated the Santa Anita Rays, 7-4, at Longden Yards on May 12. Gruppie was the winning pitcher, allowing no runs and no hits over two and two-thirds innings while striking out six and walking only one. Belvoir and Johnson also pitched well in relief with second baseman Lucas Conley getting two hits and two RBIs at the plate.
Two days later, beginning a strech of four games in four weekdays, the Marlins routed the Arcadia National Angels at Hugo Reid Elementary by a score of 10-5. Gruppie again earned the win, tossing two shutout inning and striking out five while allowing only a bloop single to right field and one walk. Sean Jackson and Joshua Yeh came through in relief with Yeh getting a save in a gutty effort. Johnson was the star on offense, going 3 for 3 with a homer, double and single good for a six runs batted in, while Jackson had a home run among his two hits and Anders Javeheri continued his hot hitting with a pair of singles.
On May 15 back at Longden Yards, the Marlins eliminated the second of three Santa Anita teams by defeating the Rangers, 7-0, behind Johnson’s stellar pitching effort and the relief work of Jackson. Yeh hit a three-run home run in the fouth inning to break the game open, followed by a two-run single from ironman catcher Ian Walker.
On May 16 at Hugo Reid Elementary, the Marlins blew a 5-0 lead but Conley helped his team avert elimination with a one-out, line-drive single to deep left on a 3-2 pitch with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning as the Marlins emerged with a thrilling 6-5 victory over the Arcadia National Reds. Belvoir pitched two and two-third shutout innings in another strong pitching peformance, striking out five and walking only one batter.
The Marlins had thus reached the Loser’s Bracket final against their AALL rival, the Red Sox. Manager Mittelman had limited Gruppie’s pitches so he could start this key game, and the 8-year-old righthander came through again at Hugo Reid. He pitched two more shutout innings, striking out six of the seven batters that he faced as the Marlins built a 9-0 lead and coasted to an 11-2 victory. This marked the team’s best offensive performance of the post-season with Javheri and Jackson both slamming key two-run doubles, Jason Yasuda hitting a booming triple and Belvoir and Gruppie icing the win with back-to-back home runs.
But even after winning five straight pressure games, the Marlins were still not the champions. They had to first get past the Santa Anita Cardinals, who had defeated them 4-1 in the regular season finale.
In a remarkably well-played Prep game, the Marlins took a 1-0 lead on Yeh’s eighth homer of the season in the top of the second. But the Cardinals got a two-run homer of their own in the third before the Marlins tied it, 2-2, in the fourth on Yeh’s triple. It stayed that way until the Marlins put together two hits and three walks in the top of the sixth for three runs, with sparkplug Conley getting the rally going with a single. He and Yeh paced the Marlin offense with two hits each.
The key to the championship game was the control exhibited by the Marlins pitchers. Belvoir walked only two in his 78 pitches and Gruppie one in his 25. The Marlins received 11 walks, while both teams had seven hits.
Dylan Malarsarn contributed to the Marlins’ playoff run with some good turns on the mound and timely hitting, Parker Soares helped keep the offense going and played solid outfield in the rare instances where the opposition hit a ball deep off Marlin pitching, and Josh Mittelman played some strong first base and contributed some key hits including a couple of great surprise bunts. The Marlins’ pitching after their one tournament loss was dominant and Gruppie was individually for the entire postseason. In eight and two-thirds innings, he allowed no runs and only three hits while striking out 19 batters and walking only three.
Manager Mittelman was assisted by coaches Guy Gruppie, Sr., David Jackson, Scott Conley and Ruemruk Malarsarn. It was a season to truly remember. Congratulations to a great team!
