There was a time, in the dark of winter, that Mill Valley Little League was unsure if would have a 2021 season, owing to COVID-19 concerns.
Now, as the final day of school beckons, and summertime calls to all families in town, a wildly successful season will reach its exciting and welcome climax with the return of playoff and City Championship baseball to Boyle Park.
Consider it all a rousing success.
While the traditional “Super Saturday” — all three City Championships, All-Star hats and O’Dogg Awards all determined on one June day at Boyle — is out, this coming weekend isn’t a bad consolation prize: Minors AAA semifinals take place at Boyle the evening of Friday June 4 at 5 pm, and Saturday June 5 sees both Minors and Majors play thrilling semifinals from 11 am onward at Boyle.
Please see the Mill Valley Little League web site for all the matchups (millvalleyll.org), but we highlight the final standings here to salute the regular season and journey and postseason seedings, with tie-breakers determined by head-to-head outcomes or runs allowed.
MAJORS
- A’s 11-2
- White Sox 11-2
- Giants 9-4
- Yankees 7-6
- Brewers 7-6
- Red Sox 5-8
- Tigers 2-11
Note: The 1-seed A’s earn a bye into the semifinals on Saturday.
MINORS
- Diamondbacks 9-4
- Tigers 9-4
- Pirates 8-5
- Giants 7-6
- Rockies 2-10-1
- Nationals 2-10-1
Note: The Diamondbacks and Tigers earn a bye into the semifinals on Saturday.
MINORS AAA
- Grays 11-2
- KC Monarchs 11-2
- Twins 9-3-1
- Royals 6-6-1
- Orioles 6-7
- Cubs 6-7
Note: The Grays and KC Monarchs earn a bye into the semifinals on Friday.
To the final week of action:
MAJORS
White Sox 6, Giants 4 — The White Sox staged a comeback behind key hits from Will Zuercher, Benicio Suh, JT Cochrane and Ben Richardson, plating four runs in the fifth inning for a key win. Cochrane closed it out in the final inning to secure the win.
A’s 14, Red Sox 2 — The A’s nailed down the top seed with a 15-hit attack, led by Sean Miller’s three hits, Anthony Murphy’s two doubles (including a ground-rule double) and doubles from Ryder Weber and Braydon Balinski. Gael O’Brien added two hits for the winners. For the Red Sox, Lana Wihlborg pitched a scoreless inning and hit a double, while Trey Sasso smacked a triple. Drawing plaudits for the glove were Hunter Block of the Red Sox, who made a running catch in right field, and Weber of the A’s at shortstop, who fielded the position well.
Yankees 7, Sausalito Pirates 4 — Brayden Clifford, Raymond Cao and Evan Rechner each had two hits for the Yanks in their regular season finale at Knudsen Field. Alex Radics allowed just one hit in two innings on the mound, while Yankees arms Lorcan Keane, Clifford and Will Weir combined on four no-hit innings. Kenjo Vogt doubled and had 3 RBI’s for the Pirates.
Yankees 7 White Sox 5 — The Yankees built a 7-0 lead and held on before Will Weir closed it out on the mound for the winners. Weir also had two hits and three RBIs for the Pinstripes, and teammates Lorcan Keane, Ben Spring and Evan Rechner added key hits and Ryan Bindeman scored two runs. The Yankees received five innings of hitless pitching from Alex Radics and Henry Bennett. For the White Sox, Dylan Murphy hit a double off the fence.
Brewers 6, Tigers 2 — Connor Grant, Bradley Marshall and Dane Migliori combined to strike out 12, while teammates Hudson Renga and Jack Maher each had two RBIs at the plate for the winners. Connor Grant scored two runs for the Brewers. For the Tigers, Theo Adam had two hits and a run while Asa Abedin pitched two scoreless innings to keep things close.
A’s 10, Sausalito Pirates 0 — Ryder Weber, Finn Reilly and Gael O’Brien combined on the shutout, and Reilly shined at the plate with two doubles and a triple. Justin Merlin had two hits, including a triple, Carson Farmer had two hits and Ryder Weber tripled.
MINORS
Pirates 19, Rockies 6 — Liam Winn led the Pirates with a 4-for-4 day, driving in four and scoring a run. Niki Welter, Nate Lee, Ciaran McDonnell and William Palmer each had multi-hit games, with Lee, Palmer and Odin Pudelka also also driving in multiple Pirate runs. The Rockies enjoyed RBI hits from Ari Baker and Conor Stewart. Griffin Newby led the Rockies pitching staff with five strikeouts over two innings.
MINORS AAA
Grays 12, Royals 2 — The Grays sewed up the No. 1 seed for the playoffs with a big win at Friends Field North.
KC Monarchs 10, Twins 5 — Griffin Jackson smacked two hits and drove in four runs, Forrest Slavin added a two-hit day and Rory Murphy struck out six in two innings to close out the win that finalized the regular season No. 2 seed for the Monarchs. Jacob DiPippa ripped a double and drove in two for the winners, and Parker Marlin and Kai Hollander each scored two runs. For the Twins, Noah Schick threw two scoreless innings and struck out four.
TP Rangers 9, TP Rockies 8 — Max Waterfield scored the winning run for the Rangers on a walk-off hit by Tyler Spaulding. Sebastian Barteau went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, and teammates Spaulding and Thomas Balliet each had a multi-hit day for the winners.
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