Mill Valley Little League Playoffs Thrill at Boyle Park – Now It’s on to a Scintillating Super Saturday on June 8

Here comes ‘Super Saturday’, June 8, when the Majors and Minors City Championships will be played at a buzzing Boyle Park. But first came ‘Mini-Super Saturday,’ when seven playoff games thrilled Boyle on June 1, a Minors AAA City Champion crowned and the 9-year-old All-Star hat recipients were named. To the action:

MAJORS — QUARTERFINAL PLAYOFFS 

Rays 5, Tigers 4 — The Rays stunned the Tigers with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, taking advantage of walks and errors to surge into the semifinals. The Rays stayed in the game because of standout pitching from Henry Pearson, who struck out nine in five innings. Pearson also smacked an RBI double. For the Tigers, Tito Fierstein allowed one run in four innings and also scored two runs, while Eli Solem had two RBIs.

Brewers 10, White Sox 0 — Bennett Dammann threw a five-inning no-hitter to lead the Brewers into the semifinals. Dammann also had a multi-hit day, as did Will Gensler (RBI triple) and Ryan Simon. 

Giants 6, Yankees 1 — Jackson Van Til threw five shutout innings, allowing only two hits and striking out six, to lead the Giants into the semifinals. The Giants also received a key two-run single from Oliver Shore. For the Yankees, Elliott Dasovich struck out eight in four innings on the mound.

Padres 4, Red Sox 1 — Hugo Barberie cracked a key RBI double and pitched three shutout innings to lead the Padres into the semifinals. Reed Hanna threw the final three for the Padres, striking out five. For the Red Sox, Cole Kramlich struck out four in two innings on the mound.

MINORS

Tigers 6, A’s 2 — Levi Burrows, Brayden Clifford, Brady Kanter and Kai McGarry (three RBIs) each had multi-hit games to lead the Tigers as they advanced to the Minors City Championship. Clifford pitched two innings and was relieved by Ryan Bindeman, Will Ostrander and Burrows, who closed out the game. The A’s got solid pitching from Charley Blumberg and Seamus Nesbit.

Mets 3, KC Monarchs 2 — The Mets rode strong pitching from Connor Grant, Raef Bradley, Evan Stoll and closer Ryder Weber, and received a key two-run double from Hutch Frank to advance to the City Championship. Catcher Anthony Murphy made a big play at the plate, stopping the tying run from scoring on a passed ball. For the Monarchs, Conrad Zirkle had two hits.

KC Monarchs 5, Cubs 4 — In a Minors quarterfinal, the 8-seed Monarchs shocked the 1-seed Cubs behind Conrad Zirkle’s two-run double, and pitching from Zirkle, Brady Stewart and Ethan Camposano, who combined to strike out 12. For the Cubs, JT Cochrane struck out four on the mound.

Tigers 6, Dodgers 2 — Brayden Clifford and Will Ostrander each had two hits and Brady Kanter had a key RBI in a quarterfinal win. Clifford, Will Ostrander and Levi Burrows got it done on the mound for the Tigers. For the Dodgers, Henry Reynolds had two hits and pitched three innings, while Carson Farmer hit a double and threw a shutout inning.

MINORS AAA 

Orioles 7, Astros 0 —The 7-seed Orioles, who only won three games in the regular season, finished a magical playoff run by capturing the Swirl Cup championship on June 1 at Boyle Park, knocking off the No. 1 seed (Astros), No. 2 seed (Rockies) and No. 3 seed (Rangers) en route to the title. 

Henry Edwards and Dillon Fahey were dominant on the mound against the Astros, combining to strike out 15, and only surrendering one hit and one walk. It didn’t come easy, though. The game was scoreless into the fifth before the Orioles broke through for five runs.

Edwards had a big day, also smacking a double and a triple, while Kai Sold had two hits and threw out a baserunner at third base. The Orioles also received key hits from Gael O’Brien, Charlie Lieginger, Seamus Mauer, Nate Lee and Ty Watson.

For the Astros, Terje Steele threw three shutout innings and Nico Rocherelle made two sterling plays on defense, while catcher Luke Hyman threw out a runner at second base.

MAJORS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
City Bracket. June 5
Rays vs Brewers, 4 pm
Padres vs Giants, 6 pm

MINORS CITY CHAMPIONSHIP
Mets vs Tigers, June 8, 2 pm