-Courtesy photo
The Admirals Elite Baseball Club completed its inaugural season in winning style Sunday night, taking the consolation title of the AA State Fall Championships at chilly Big League Dreams in Riverside. The Admirals got off to another quick start with an eight-run first inning and then cruised to an 11-3 victory over the South Bay Curve, finishing third in a strong tournament field.
The victory capped a marathon day for the Admirals, who played three games over more than 12 hours, and concluded a highly successful fall for a talented team comprised of several California District 17 little league all-stars playing on the same team for the first time.
Kellen Gewecke of Arcadia American continued his torrid hitting with a booming two-run triple and Pasadena Central’s Germaine Harvey added a two-run triple of his own to pace the Admiral offense as Arcadia American’s Michael Gruppie picked up another Sunday pitching victory by tossing two scoreless innings.
The Admirals just missed getting into the championship final but were edged by the OC Kings, 3-1, earlier in a semifinal game where pitching and defense dominated. Arcadia American’s Julian Eskridge threw three steller innings in relief, but the Admirals’ offense was kept in check but two strong Kings’ pitchers who combined for 11 strikeouts. The Admirals lost despite outhitting the Kings, six to five.
In their tournament opener, the Admirals rallied from an early deficit and went out to defeat the Tustin Scorpions by a score of 11-3. Colin Noble of East Altadena and Eddie Jin of Arcadia American were sharp on the mound, combining on a six-hitter as the Admirals’ bats came alive late but in a big way. Eskridge knocked in three runs but it was Noble’s big two-run double that broke the game open as the Admirals advanced to the semifinals. East Altadena’s Jackson Stuart had a big day at the plate with two hits, three runs scored and two driven in.