Photos by Steve Galluzzo
Cardinals Top Orioles in Nine-Inning Mustang Thriller, Red Sox Win Pinto Division and Yankees Claim Bronco Crown
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
The final game of the Pacific Palisades Baseball Association playoffs this season was one of the longest and most dramatic championship battles in league history. It had it all—close calls, acrobatic catches, pinpoint throws, clutch hits, ebbs and flows, even a little controversy—and when it was over the Cardinals mustered extra energy to celebrate after holding off the Orioles 6-5 in nine innings to capture the Mustang Division title as daylight turned to dusk last Thursday at the Field of Dreams.
The No. 1-seeded Cardinals edged ahead in the top of the ninth when Tate Dore alertly broke from third base to steal home on a wild pitch. However, Brandon Gimlestob singled to lead off the bottom half, hustled all the way around the bases and stepped on home plate while avoiding catcher Finn Purdy’s tag for what appeared to be an equalizing run. The game was delayed several minutes as the umpire discussed the play with Commissioner Bob Benton and Gimelstob was ultimately called out for not attempting a slide. After a pop up on the infield, a pair of singles and a pitch in the dirt put runners on second and third. Everett Somer hit a grounder to third baseman Nate Underwood, who made a backhand grab and coolly fired across the diamond to Dore at first to beat the runner by two steps. At last, the red birds were flying high.
“That was certainly one of the best and craziest games I’ve been a part of and I’ve seen my fair share of PPBA action,” admitted Orioles head coach Mike Badt, whose team forced the winner-take-all contest with a 6-2 victory two days earlier to hand the Cardinals their first loss in the double elimination format. “It’s the rule (sliding at home) but desperately needs amending to avoid issues like this in the future.”
The Cardinals (14-6) scored three runs in the top of the first but their opponents pulled within one in the second on a solo home run by Dylan Pickart (his first of the season) and an RBI groundout. The Orioles took a 4-3 lead in the fourth but Purdy’s RBI single in the sixth tied it. The teams traded runs in the seventh, setting the stage for a dramatic ending two tension-filled innings later. Dash Mastantuono had three hits for the Cardinals while Purdy and Aiden Bierman added two apiece.
“Definitely an exciting finish to the season,” said Cardinals head coach Matt Underwood, who piloted the Pinto Pirates to the title last spring.
The teams faced each other five times over the course of the season. The Orioles won three, but the Cardinals took two out of three in the playoffs.
Despite having only three 10-year-olds on the roster, the Cardinals won eight of their nine outings decided by less than two runs. The team’s talented lineup also included Bennett Underwood, Bradley Merrill, Charlie Morici, Gray Russell, Matteo Posner, Ryan Binder and Buck Dufour.
Defeating the Cubs 15-6 to win the Pinto Division last Tuesday was extra special for first-year Red Sox head coach Brad Hill and his youngest son Ford, who completed the family “three-peat” by catching shortstop Noah Mehring’s throw to first base for the last out of the game. Ford’s older brothers Henry (2019) and William (2021) also won titles with the Red Sox in their last season of Pinto—in fact Henry also played first and caught the championship-clinching out five years ago.
“The team played incredible defense all year and we were hard to score on—we only allowed double digit runs twice all season, which kept us in games and set us up for some come-from-behind victories,” said Coach Hill, whose team ended up 12-7 after winning seven of its first nine, dropping five of its last six regular season contests, then catching fire in the playoffs—including a 10-6 upset of the top-seeded Cardinals in which the Sox rallied for six runs in the sixth inning to advance. “Our bats would come and go but the kids got hot at the right time.”
The Sox and Cubs were tied 6-6 after three innings of the clincher before the Sox plated four runs in the home half of the fourth and five more in the fifth to put the game out of reach. In all, the Sox had 24 hits. Ford Hill went 13-for-14 at bat in the postseason and got help in the final from August Baker and Charlie Beall (each had two doubles), Cameron Schwartz (four-for-four with four RBIs) and James Rudin (three RBIs). Rounding out the squad were Finley Solt, Ruby Rosen, Alec Boghosian, Ford Rauth and Miles Agramonte-Silber.
On Field 2 that same afternoon, the Yankees were hardly the “Bronx Bombers” but they executed “small ball” to perfection in a 9-4 triumph over the Cubs that wrapped up the Bronco Division crown—a first for Coach Barry HoAire.
“No homers, but timely hitting,” he said. “We’ve made the championship game or play-in almost every year. It’s the first time we’ve won.”
Walker Johnson threw 3.2 innings, striking out six and allowing an unearned run for the Yanks (14-5-1), who got contributions from Lucas Barrutia, James HoAire (who pitched the last inning), Cameron Liska, Jace Roshan, Christian Reynolds, Alexander Shamonki, Brooks Stuber, Issac Ungerleider, Oliver Widhelm and Wesley Wolf.
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