Majors
Tuesday, 3.24.15 - Pirates 6, Royals 5
After the Royals made a furious rally from a 5-0 deficit to force extra innings, the Pirates pulled out the win when Owen Wessel singled to drive in Nick Madole in the top of the seventh.
With two outs in the seventh, Madole (3-for-3, two doubles, three runs) nearly homered, but his drive to center field struck the top of the fence. Wessel followed with a liner to center for the go-ahead run. The Royals didn't go quietly in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with two outs before Wessel retired the final batter on a grounder to first.
The Royals parlayed four hits and a walk into a four-run rally in the fifth. Adam Baggetta closed the gap to 5-3 with a double to right-center field and Nate Skorheim tied it with a dramatic two-out, two-run single.
AJ Hurtado helped the Pirates build their 5-0 lead with a two-run single in the first and an RBI single in the second. Hurtado also was a force on the mound with nine strikeouts in 3-1/3 innings.
Samuel Mejia (3-for-3), Nick Skorheim (2-for-3) and Dylan Simonds (2-for-3) had multi-hit games for the Royals, who racked up 14 hits. Reliever Alex Muirhead pitched brilliantly to keep the Royals close, allowing no runs in 3-1/3 innings.
David Drigla contributed an RBI infield single for the Pirates, who also received singles from Gavin Kells and Quentin Custodio.
Saturday, 3.21.15 - Angels 6, White Sox 4
Angels started the game with an early lead, scoring three runs in the first inning with hits by Ryan Carles and an RBI by Sam Myers. After four innings, the Angels led 4-1 but the White Sox came back with a vengeance at the top of the 5th inning with a hit by Christopher Roberts and an RBI single by Michael Zamora tying the game 4-4. Steady pitching by White Sox' Chad Lux kept the Angels from scoring during the 5th and 6th innings and took the game into extra innings.
Myers pitched well for the Angels, getting out of some tough moments, allowing no earned runs and no hits for the last three innings.
It was a great day for Angels' Micah Blake, starting pitcher, who threw five strikeouts in the first three innings and at the plate went 3-3 with two doubles (4th and 6th innings) and a walk-off home run in the 9th winning the game against the White Sox.
Jack Sles contributed with two singles and Sam Myers and Alden Landis with a single for the Angels.
Chad Lux, Brandon Lieberman and Angel Zamora each had singles for the White Sox.
Saturday, 3.21.15 - Royals 10, Nationals 5
Royals grabbed their second win this week. Opening pitcher AJ Valle of the Royals threw 4 strikeouts in the first 2.5 innings allowing no earned runs. Jake D'Amico on the mound for the Nationals, striking out 3 batters in the first two innings. Royals started things off with Nate Skorheim scoring on an RBI single from his brother Nick. Jake Alvarez gets an RBI in the second inning, plating Kai Mullens giving the Royals 2. Things got exciting in the fourth inning when the Nationals began a rally. Down by 5, they drove home 2 runs and got on the scoreboard. A double by Jake D'Amico, a single from Cole Kaplan, followed by an RBI single from Tyler LaForce igniting the Nationals. That spark also set off the Royals as they added 5 more runs in the top of the 5th. A single by Nate Skorheim plated Adam Baggetta, an RBI single from Valle to bring home Ethan Eisen who had singled and a homerun from Nick Skorheim giving the Royals a 10-2 lead.
It was a great day for Nick Skorheim going 3-3 at the plate. Nationals refusing to give up got three more runs in the bottom of the inning and didn't allow any further runs for the Royals. The Royals sent in closing pitcher Nate Skorheim to end the game.
Wednesday, 3.18.15 - Royals 10, Angels 5
Royals and the Angels passed the lead back and forth making for an exciting game. Royals kicked off the game with three runs off hits from AJ Valle and Samuel Mejia. Angels fought right back with singles from Ryan Carles, Micah Blake and Josh O'campo and a two-run single from Alden Landis placing four on the board. Royals make a run at the game in the second inning with doubles from Jaxen Phillips, a single from Nate Skorheim, driving Ethan Eisen and Adam Baggetta and a double from Dylan Simonds. Simonds steals home on a passed ball to give the Royals an 8-4 lead. Royals score another on a passed ball in the third plating Kai Mullens. Angels tried to rally but Royals pitcher Alec Muirhead won the battle in the third inning. Royals closer AJ Valle held the Angels hitless for two innings, no earned runs and two strikeouts.
Tuesday, 3.17.15 - White Sox 2, Pirates 0
The White Sox rode the strong pitching of Chad Lux and Christopher Roberts to hand the Pirates their first loss of the season. Lux struck out seven batters and allowed three hits in four innings, while Roberts had four strikeouts in the final two innings to collect the save.
Right-hander Evan Knipe (seven strikeouts) only allowed two hits in four innings for the Pirates (3-1, 1-1).
The Pirates outhit their opponent 5-2 but the White Sox made the most of their two hits. In the first inning, the White Sox's Matthew Wilson doubled to center field and scored on a wild pitch with two outs. The White Sox made it 2-0 in the second on Brandon Lieberman's single to center, scoring Matt Hernandez.
Nick Madole, Owen Wessel, Lucas Flynn, Danny Gallardo and David Drigla each had singles for the Pirates.
Saturday, 3.15.15 - White Sox 6, Royals 5
Antonio Ventimiglia hit two home runs and Evan Wood had a clutch, RBI single lifting the White Sox to a 6-5 comeback victory over the Royals in an Ocean View Little League Majors Division game Sunday.
The Royals took a 5-2 lead after three innings with help from Nate Skorheim (triple, RBI single) and AJ Valle (home run), but Ventimiglia's second home run of the day with a runner on base cut the White Sox's deficit 5-4 in the fourth.
In the fifth, Wood's hit drove home Brandon Lieberman with the tying run, and Mikey Caira scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.
White Sox pitcher Christopher Roberts relieved starter Matthew Wilson and threw three scoreless innings, the game ending on center fielder Chad Lux's running catch.
Royals starter Nick Scorheim struck out five batters in 3 2/3 innings.
Saturday, 3.14.15 - Pirates 6, Brewers 0
AJ Hurtado and Evan Knipe teamed up for a two-hit shutout as the Pirates beat the Brewers. Hurtado put on a display of power pitching with eight strikeouts in three innings and Knipe finished with three strong innings, striking out four batters.
Hurtado led the offense with a pair of run-scoring hits and made the game's top defensive play with a diving catch of a line drive at first base with two runners on base to end the fourth.
Leading 1-0, the Pirates gave themselves some breathing room with three runs in the third. David Driglia led off with an opposite-field double and later scored on Christian Claypool's infield single. Following an error, Owen Wessel tripled to right-center field to score Nick Madole.
Driglia increased the lead to 5-0 with an RBI groundout in the fourth, scoring Danny Gallardo. The Pirates' final run came when Hurtado's hard grounder rolled to the fence in left-center, plating Knipe in the fifth.
Luca Pantel and Steven Venetantis delivered singles for the Brewers. Right-hander Tristan Kennedy of the Brewers struck out eight batters in 3 1/3 innings.
Monday, 3.9.15 - Pirates 7, Angels 6
Down by two runs, the Pirates erupted for four consecutive hits with one out in the sixth to beat the Angels in walkoff fashion.
Gavin Kells' infield hit scored Evan Knipe from second when the throw to first was off target, giving the Pirates the win.
Knipe tied the game with a line-drive single, scoring Owen Wessel and AJ Hurtado when the ball couldn't be stopped in center field.
Paced by a pair of RBI singles from Sam Myers, the Angels held a 5-0 lead in the third. The Pirates responded with four runs in the bottom of the third. David Drigla brought in Danny Gallardo with an inflield single and Nick Madole followed with a two-run double. Wessel capped the Pirates' rally with an RBI double to center, cutting the deficit to 5-4.
Dylan Villanueva provided an RBI groundout in the fourth to give the Angels a two-run cushion. Ryan Carles (double), Joshua Ocampo (RBI triple), Jack Sles (two singles) and Aiden Landis (two scoreless innings) made key contributions for the Angels.
Hurtado struck out three batters in the fifth and Knipe pitched a scoreless sixth to pick up the win for the Pirates (2-0).
Saturday, 3.7.15 - Royals 5, White Sox 1
The Royals scored three runs in the top of the sixith inning to break open a tight game and lead the way to a 5-1 win over the White Sox in an OVLL Majors Division game Saturday afternoon.
Four Royals pitchers - AJ Valle, Alec Muirhead, Kai Mullens and Nick Skorheim - combined to limit the White Sox to five hits over six innings.
They Royals had eight different players get one hit each, including doubles by Mullens, Adam Bagetta and Jaxen Phillips.
Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the White Sox scored their only run of the game when Chad Lux scored all the way from first base on a single by Brandon Lieberman and an error by the Royals' right fielder.
It was Jack Alvarez who singled in the sixth to get momentum up again for the Royals who then pushed across three runs in the sixth to give themselves a cushion. Nate Skorheim drove in a run with a single and later scored on a wild pitch. Valle drove in the final run of the game with an infield single.
The White Sox' only extra-base hit in the game came on Antonio Ventimiglia's second-inning double.
Saturday, 2.28.15 - Royals 11, Cubs 0
Royals took the win versus the Cubs on Saturday following a beautiful Opening Day ceremony honoring our military families. Nick Skorheim put together a great showing on the mound for the Royals holding the Cubs hitless over the first three innings with six strikeouts, no earned runs and only one walk. Royals scored two in the first inning with RBI singles from Samuel Mejia and Kai Mullens and tacked on two more in the second inning with a double from Nick Skorheim plating brother, Nate. Cubs pitcher, Nick Shenkman, tried to hold back the Royals pitching a solid three innings with seven strikeouts.
Nick Shenkman and Parker Walpole of the Cubs both had singles, but it wasn't enough. The Royals exploded in the fourth on an RBI single by Jacob George, an RBI single from Jaxen Phillips, a two-run double from Nate Skorheim, an RBI single by AJ Valle and an RBI single from Alec Muirhead. AJ Valle closed the game pitching seven strikeouts. Royals took the first game victory 11-0. By L. Skorheim
