The Phat Monkees

July 15: After a long run through the District and Sectional Tournaments, the 11-Year Old All Stars saw their tournament hopes dashed by a three-run, walk-off, home run in the bottom of the sixth with two out. The final score was Westchester 5...Manhattan 4. In total, the Manhattan 11's advanced ten games into the tournament, which is the most tournament games any Manhattan team has played in years. The Sectional Tournament started for the Manhattan 11s on Saturday, July 14th, with a tough game against perennial power house San Pedro East View. Reduced to 10 players by vacations, and with Thomas Lapham not available to pitch, the Manhattan 11s relied on creative use of their pitchers to battle East View. Jack Smith, followed by James Houston, Greg Briskin and Jackson Vena combined to pitch a great game. But the grind of tournament play and junior guards showed in the field and several errors led to many unearned runs. Manhattan was forced to out-hit East View, which they almost did. At the end of the game, Manhattan had the bases loaded and the tying run at the plate. Unfortunately, Thomas popped out and Manhattan lost by a score of 10-6. The Manhattan 11s came right back on Sunday and defeated North Venice by a score of 14-0 in a game that was shortened to five innings by the mercy rule. Thomas Lapham and James Houston combined to pitch a perfect game and the boys put on a hitting clinic. On Monday night Manhattan went up versus Westchester. Jack Smith started and went the first 2 and 2/3rds innings before reaching the 45 pitch count. Jack only allowed one unearned run. In the top of the third, with one down, Jack Smith doubled and Cooper Griffith doubled Jack home to tie the score. A Willy Hock singled scored Cooper and Willy came home on a Thomas Lapham bloop single. James Houston blanked Westchester in the 4th inning and Greg Briskin kept them off the board in the 5th. In the top of the 5th, a Jack Smith home run pushed the Manhattan lead to 4-1. In the bottom of the 6th, Greg Briskin went to the mound. After a walk, and reaching two strikes on the next batter, Greg reached his pitch limit. Jackson Vena came on to pitch. Jackson finished up the strike out on the next batter. He then induced a grounder to Cooper Griffith at short, which Coop and Kyle Zucker almost converted into a double play. The next Westchester batter lined a ball up the middle and center fielder Greg Briskin almost got the force of the runner at 2nd base. The next batter doubled in a run to make the score 4-2, but was almost thrown out a 2nd base when he rounded the base too aggressively. The missed opportunities came back to haunt the Manhattan 11s when the next Westchester batter smacked a three run home run. The Manhattan 11-year old All Stars can hold their heads high. They brought home the first District title to Manhattan Beach since 2003. They battled hard in every game showing good sportsmanship throughout the Tournaments. Congratulations to the boys and Manager Todd French and Coaches Jon Smith and Eric Zucker. __________________________________________________________________________________ July 12: Behind the strong arm of Thomas Lapham, the Manhattan 11s defeated Palos Verdes on Thursday night by a score of 5-4 to claim the District 36 title. As has been their style, the Manhattan 11s did it the hard way with the winning run scoring in the bottom of the sixth, with two out, on a Danny Kelleher infield single. The Manhattan 11s took the hardest path possible to the championship by losing their first game to Palos Verdes. They then won four straight games in the elimination bracket and defeated the very tough Palos Verdes twice for the title. Both championship games came down to the last out. The Manhattan 11's will play in the Section 4 Tournament beginning Saturday, July 14th, in Culver City. Their first game is at 11am vs. San Pedro East View. See below for directions. The Manhattan 11s gave up a run in the top of the 1st on an error, walk and double steal. They fell behind 2-0 in the second on a double, walk and RBI single. In the bottom of the second, they came roaring back with three runs. Greg Briskin lead off the inning with a walk. Singles by Jackson Vena and Danny Kelleher scored Greg. After a Justin Schottenhammer walk, Jack Smith brought home a run with a fielder's choice. Manhattan added a third run with the classic double steal/pickle play. In the 4th, Manhattan advance their lead to 4-2 on a Jackson Vena home run. Palos Verdes tied the score in the 5th on four hits including a great bunt. In the bottom of the sixth, pitcher Thomas Lapham lead off with a single. A single by center fielder Greg Briskin moved Thomas to second. A fielders choice took Thomas off the bases and left Greg and Jackson on first and second. Greg Briskin then tagged up and moved to third on a sacrifice fly. With two out, the speedy Danny Kelleher hit a ground ball to short and was able to beat the throw to first. Thomas pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts for the victory. Jackson made several great plays at third and Danny made a terrific running catch in the sunny right field on the first play of the game to set the tone for the game. The Manhattan hitters had seven hits, but more importantly no strike outs. Their ability to put the ball in play proved very important in the end. Congrats to all the boys and Coaches Todd French, Jon Smith and Eric Zucker. This was the first District Championship for Manhattan since 2003, which included a lot of frustrating second place finishes. Note: The 9/10 All Stars added a second District title later in the night. The Culver City field is located at 9800 Jefferson Blvd. ___________________________________________________________________________________ July 11: The Manhattan 11-Year old All Stars won back-to-back games on Monday and Tuesday nights to advance to the Championship game on Thursday July 12th at the Rolling Hills Little League field. They will play Palos Verdes at 5pm. On Monday night, the Manhattan 11s defeated North Redondo by a score of 12-2 in a game that was shortened to 4 innings because of the mercy rule. Thomas Lapham pitched a strong game and he was supported by strong play in the field (no errors). At the plate, the entire team hit well with Jackson Vena providing the big blow, a three run home run. On Tuesday night, the Manhattan 11s defeated Palos Verdes by a score of 6-4 to force the "if needed" game. Because PV had advanced to the championship game without a loss, Manhattan needs to defeat them twice. It was a close game. PV scored two runs in the top of the first aided by some Manhattan fielding errors. But the fielding was also very good and a diving stop of a ball by second baseman Willy Hock, got the Manhattan 11s out of a bases loaded jam. In the Manhattan frame of the first, and error, and a two-run home run from Copper Griffith, an unexpected power source, tied the score. PV came right back to score a run in the second inning moving out front by a score of 3-2. Manhattan tied the score in the 3rd on a Thomas Lapham double and singles by Greg Briskin and Gregory French. PV was in front by a score of 4-3, though, in the top of the fifth as pitcher Danny Kelleher was approaching his pitch count. With one out, and runners on second and third, James Houston entered the game and kept PV off the board, striking out the last batter. In the bottom of the fifth, Jackson Vena singled with one out. James Houston walked and with two down, and on an 0-2 count, Jack Smith smacked a three run home run. James Houston closed out the game in the sixth. Danny Kelleher pitched 4 and 1/3rd gutty innings maintaining his composure through several difficult moments. James Houston pitched two superb innings. In the field, Willy Hock contributed several amazing plays at second base. ___________________________________________________________________________________ July 8: The Manhattan 11-Year old All Stars kept their tournament hopes alive with a 9-5 victory over El Segundo in a game that was much closer than the score would indicate. The Manhattan 11s play North Redondo on Monday evening (5pm) at the Rolling Hills Little League field. Manhattan jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a run in the second and two runs in the third. With Danny Kelleher on the mound for Manhattan, the defense breezed through the first two innings. But in the bottom half of the third, after consecutive walks and a double put a run on the board for El Segundo, Danny had reached his pitch limit. Greg Briskin came in to relieve. With bases loaded and no outs, a ground ball to Jackson Vena at third base started a key 5-2-3 double play, and helped Manhattan keep a 3-2 lead at the end of the third inning. In the 4th, Manhattan, again, jumped out to a 5-2 lead, with hits from Jack Smith, Thomas Lapham and Greg Briskin. But El Segundo, as had been their reputation throughout the tournament, fought right back to tie the score on two walks and two singles. In the 5th, Manhattan loaded the bases with one out. But all they could muster was an infield fly and a ground out. Meanwhile, Greg Briskin retired the El Segundo batters consecutively in the bottom of the inning. In the sixth, Thomas Lapham led off the inning with his second home run of the tournament. Three hits and an error put three more runs on the board and Manhattan was up 9-5. Greg Briskin closed out El Segundo in the bottom of the sixth and Manhattan claimed victory. Thomas Lapham was the hitting star with a home run, double and two walks. Greg Briskin and Gregory French each contributed two hits. Cooper Griffith, Danny Kelleher, David Odle, Justin Schottenhammer, and Jack Smith each added hits. For the game, Manhattan had 11 hits and 11 walks, but left 12 runners on base. Danny Kelleher struck out four in two complete innings, and in a gutsy performance, Greg Briskin did not allow an earned run in four innings of relief. ____________________________________________________________________________________ July 6: The Manhattan 11-year old All Stars kept their District Tournament hopes alive with a convincing 10-6 win over Silver Spur at the Rolling Hills Little League field on Friday night. The 11-year old All Stars next game is versus El Segundo at the Rolling Hills field on Sunday afternoon at 1pm. The game started slowly. Manhattan left two men on base in the first and second innings, while Silver Spur took a one run lead on a long home run. In the top of the 3rd, Manhattan put two men on base, again, with Gregory French at the plate and two out. It didn't look good when Gregory fell down in the count at 1-2. In a nice bit of hitting, Gregory punched the 1-2 pitch over the right field fence for a 3-run home run and a 3-1 lead. At this point, this reporter regretted choosing a seat too close to Gregory's very proud mother, Tracy French. Meanwhile, the Manhattan 11-year old pitcher, Thomas Lapham, was hitting a grove. He was helped along by some nice fielding. Third baseman Jackson Vena made a nice play in the second. And Thomas helped himself by starting a 1-6-3 double play to end the third inning. The Manhattan 11s bats came alive in the top of the 4th inning. After a ground out, Cooper Griffith singled and stole two bases. Consecutive singles by Jack Smith, Willy Hock and Thomas Lapham plated two more runs for a 6-1 lead. The Manhattan bats went quiet until the top of the 6th inning. In the 6th, an infield single from Coop, Jack Smith walk, and infield single by Thomas Lapham score the 7th run. A Greg Briskin singled scored Jack Smith and Kyle Zucker finished the scoring with a two-run single and a 10-1 lead. There was a scare in the bottom of the 6th, as the Silver Spur bats came to life and some balls found wholes. But Thomas Lapham battled hard and Cooper finished off the victory with two force plays at second base. Thomas Lapham went the distance for Manhattan. Through five innings, Thomas only gave up one run and two hits. For the game he struck out six and walked two. In the field, the Manhattan 11s only committed one error, with Greg Briskin making several nice plays in center field. ____________________________________________________________________________________ July 1: The Manhattan 11-Year old Stars were back on the field on Sunday after a tough loss the prior day to the PV All Stars. Demonstrating great resiliency they defeated the Hermosa Beach All Stars by a score of 13-2 in a game that was shortened to four innings. The 11-year old All Stars play again on Friday night (5pm) at the Rolling Hills Little League field. Manhattan went down quietly in the first inning, but a Jack Smith line drive single was evidence that the bats were coming alive. In the bottom of the first, the Manhattan 11's also demonstrated that they had brought their gloves on a 1-6-3 double play (Danny Kelleher to Cooper Griffith to Jack Smith). In the top of the second, MLL posted its first run when Jackson Vena was hit by a pitch, Gregory French walked. Willy Hock hit a line drive right at the right fielder for the first out, but Cooper Griffith singled up the middle for a run. In the bottom of the second, three nice fielding plays by Willy Hock (2b), Danny Kelleher and Jackson Vena (3b) got MLL back off the field quickly. Jackson's play was worthy of Sports Center. In the top of the third, after a Justin "Hammer" Schottenhammer walk, Thomas Lapham lined the next pitch over the left field wall for a 3-0 lead. Hermosa scored an unearned run off Danny in the bottom of the third. The Manhattan 11's broke the game open in the bottom of the 4th. Willy singled, James Houston was hit by a pitch and Danny singled to load the bases. Greg Briskin and David Odle singles brought home three runs. Briskin scored on a wild pitch and Jack Smith added an RBI single to make the score 8-1. After Thomas was intentionally walked, Jackson singled and Kyle Zucker walked to bring in the 9th run. Willy singled in two runs to advance the score to 11-1. RBI singles from Greg Briskin and Danny Kelleher finished up the scoring at 13-1. The Manhattan 11's gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the 4th. But a nice 2-6-2 play by Willy and David Odle on an attempted double steal and two strike outs from Danny closed out the game. Danny went all four innings for the victory giving up three hits, walking two and striking out four. ____________________________________________________________________________________ June 30th: The MLL 11-year old All Stars put themselves in a whole with some early errors, but showed a lot of heart in fighting back to tie the game. In the end, they couldn't overcome the crafty pitching, solid fielding and timely hitting of a very strong Palos Verdes team. The final score was 5-4. This reporter showed up in the 3rd inning with the MLL team down 4-2. The wicked sun field at the Rolling Hills field had proved cruel to the MLL 11s with four errors and four unearned runs. Thomas Lapham had pitched a masterful game keeping the PV hitters off balance with a nice change of speeds. The Palos Verdes pitcher was equally tough, constantly hitting the outside corner with curves and well placed fast balls. He had the MLL hitters lunging at pitches. In the top of the 5th, Greg Brisking lead off with a ringing double over the head of the center fielder. He moved up to third on a wild pitch. David Odle drew a walk and courteous runner Cooper Griffith stole 2nd base.. With Thomas Lapham at the plate, Greg Briskin scored on a wild pitch with Cooper Griffith right behind him on a very heady play when the flip back to the pitcher escaped his grasp. In the bottom of the 5th, Palos Verdes grabbed the lead back with a home run. The Palos Verdes hitter reached down and grabbed a Thomas Lapham fast ball and lined it over the left field fence. In the top of the 6th, the MLL 11s fought right back. After an out, Cooper Griffith beat out an infield single. And then the baseball Gods reached down and changed the game. The next batter, Danny Kelleher, lined a shot over the right fielder's head. It would have easily scored the speedy Cooper Griffith from 1st base. But the ball barely bounced over the right field fence for a ground rule double. Cooper was forced to stop at third. After a Greg Briskin walk and a pop out, Jack Smith stepped to the plate. He lined a shot into the left field gap, but the PV coaches has properly placed their left fielder and he roamed over to make the play at the fence. The MLL 11s showed a lot of heart. They overcame their mistakes and fought back to play a great game. In the field, Cooper Griffith, Kyle Zucker, Jack Smith, Danny Kelleher and Jackson Vena all made great plays. Gregory French caught a great game. The MLL 11s play again on Sunday at 3:30pm.