On yet on another beautiful night in Fountain Hills and with our gracious hosts from Fountain Hills Little League, we saw history being made;  McDowell Mountain won their first District VI Championship.  

Coming out of the winners' bracket and with rested pitching, McDowell Mountain jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back.  Arcadia gave it their all but could not overcome the well rested and dominant pitching of McDowell Mountain (MMLL gave up only 8 runs in 4 games).

Congratulations McDowell Mountain!!!

Download an the final bracket at the All Star Tournament link at the the left.

A new bracket and information regarding the STATE 9/10s Baseball Tournament is now available.  Please click on the All Star Tournament link on the left and choose 9/10s.

(Gilbert) Here is a game 1 recount of McDowell Mountain’s (MMLL) first game at the 9-10 All-Stars State Tournament provided by the team:

Tonight in Gilbert behind the strong pitching of Michael Ksobiech, MMLL beat a very tough Chandler National Little League team 5 - 0.  Ksobiech struck out 8, gave up 1 hit, and made several plays himself from the mound.
MMLL came out hitting from the very first pitch and never stopped putting the ball in play. Creighton Morfitt hit a triple to the base of the right field fence while Nick Hartson hit a 2-run shot down the right field line to break the game open.
With a revamped infield of Tommy Olson at 3rd, Ethan Hyman at 2nd, and Drew LaSalle at 1st, MMLL's defense did not make an error. The game ended when catcher Drake Sadosky threw a bullet to Creighton Morfitt covering second to catch a speedy Chandler runner on a surprise steal!

Next up MMLL plays Blythe Little League at 5:30PM, July 19 at McQueen Park, Field 7 in Gilbert.

The following is a recount of the game provided by the manager of McDowell Mountain:

(Gilbert) McDowell Mountain Little League (MMLL) faced a determined team from Kingman Little League tonight at McQueen Park in Gilbert in their second game of the State 9-10 year old All-Star Tournament. MMLL put 1 run on the board in the top of the 1st and kept going until the game ended with a 9-2 victory!

A determined Kingman team faced MMLL's strong pitching, consistent hitting, and solid defense . MMLL had it all working tonight.

Creighton Morfitt pitched 4 great innings while striking out 9 batters. David Ksobiech came in to pitch in the 5th inning and then Drake Sadosky was brought in to wrap up the game striking out the last hitter.

The boys hitting attack continued with key hits by Creighton Morfitt, Michael Ksobiech, Drake Sadosky, Drew LaSalle, Jack Baker, and Zack Marks.

The defense continues to protect the leads with a key catch by Creighton Morfitt behind 3rd base while looking into the glaring sun. In addition, Creighton took part in an amazing double play in the top of the 6th inning.  He fielded a ground ball at second base which he threw to first base for the first out. Then, MMLL's first baseman, Drew LaSalle, turned and threw a perfect strike to catcher Ethan Hyman who blocked the plate and made the tag on a runner attempting to score. Real heads-up baseball by the boys!

MMLL is now 2-0 in the State Tournament. Their next game is Monday, July 23 at 5:30PM Crossroads Park Field #1 against the Pantano Little League team from Tucson. Keep it rolling MMLL!

(Gilbert) McDowell Mountain Little League (MMLL) continued its march in the Arizona 9-10 year old State All-Star Tournament in Gilbert (at Crossroads Park) tonight with a 9-7 win against Pantano Little League of Tucson (District 12).

After 6 flawless games played (4 in District and 2 in State) MMLL was due to be tested and tonight they got it. MMLL started out in their usual strong manner with hits by the top of the order to put a few runs on the board. Michael Ksobiech pitched 4 strong innings before handing the ball over to his brother David Ksobiech in the 5th inning with MMLL being up by 6 runs.

Pantano started hitting the ball in the gaps and put several runs on the board. MMLL then brought in Drew LaSalle to finish up the game for his team.

Defensive highlights included Grant Dietz with 2 nice catches in the wind in right field, Creighton Morfitt at 3rd, Drake Sadosky fielding a Pantano bunt perfectly, and Mickey Horn's several plays at first including the game ending play with the tying run up at the plate!

Good hitting by Michael Ksobiech, Drake Sadosky, Drew LaSalle, David Ksobiech, and Creighton Morfitt helped keep MMLL ahead throughout the game. Next up for McDowell Mountain is Four Peaks Little League tomorrow night at 7:30PM at McQueen Park in Gilbert. Keep it up MMLL!

Please click on headline to be taken to host site.

Coach's recount:

The McDowell Mountain Little League boys (MMLL) just keep rolling along with an 8-4 win tonight against Four Peaks Little League (District 5). MMLL's trifecta of pitching, hitting, and defense continues to carry the team through the tournament.

Creighton Morfitt took the mound and pitched 4 strong innings tonight striking out 10 batters. After Creighton completed his duty, Drake Sadosky came in to pitch the 5th and 6th innings and closed it out striking out 5 batters. That's 15 strikeouts out of a possible 18 outs, unbelievable!

It is a team characteristic that MMLL can jump out to a lead each game with its top 6 hitters getting on base. Key hits tonight by Michael Ksobiech, Ethan Hyman, Creighton Morfitt, Drake Sadosky, Drew LaSalle, and David Ksobiech really help get the machine running each game.  Drake Sadosky hit a 200 foot bomb off the centerfield fence in the 6th inning and then Ethan Hyman came up with a key hit behind 2nd base to score Tommy Olson for the 8th MMLL run of the night.

With all the strikeouts made by MMLL's pitchers, defensive plays were limited to Drew LaSalle and Michael Ksobiech. Next up for MMLL is Continental National Little League tomorrow at 5:30PM, Crossroads Park in Gilbert.

Here is the schedule, weather allowing, for McDowell Mountain's final 2 pool play games.  Should they advance to the semi-final round, they would play on Saturday, July 28^th at McQueen Park at 6:00 PM.

McDowell Mountain Little League (MMLL) took a big step tonight in the 9-10 yr old All-Star State Tournament play. Tonight they beat a powerful Diamondback Little League District 3 team 7-3 at McQueen Park in Gilbert. At this point, MMLL are now 5-0 in the State Tournament and we have secured the #1 seed in our Pool. This means that MMLL will playing Goodyear Little League Saturday in the State semi-finals. But first, they have one last Pool game to play tomorrow against Continental National Little League from Tucson.

Tonight MMLL got good pitching from Michael Ksobiech, David Ksobiech, and Drew LaSalle to keep the Diamondbacks in hand. MMLL's hitting was strong with hits from Michael Ksobiech, Ethan Hyman, Creighton Morfitt, Drake Sadosky, Drew LaSalle, and Jack Brancheau. And it was the exciting return of Mickey Horn's bat that kept the rallies going.

Tomorrow night MMLL will play Continental at 6PM at McQueen Park in Gilbert in their last pool game before Saturday's semi-final game at the same park at 6PM.
Best of luck to the MMLL boys in this exciting run!

McDowell Mountain Little League (MMLL) finally lost a game at the 9/10s State Baseball Tournament.  MMLL lost to Continental Little League 8-4.  In their last pool game and a game that had no impact on their seeding, MMLL came out in their usual fashion with a 3-0 lead after 2 innings. The lead was built to 4-2 on key hits by Creighton Morfitt, Drake Sadosky, David Ksobiech, Jack Brancheau, and Mickey Horn.

MMLL got strong pitching from Drake Sadosky, Mickey Horn, Tommy Olson, and Ethan Hyman until Continental began to put the ball in play and didn't stop until they had an 8-4 win.

MMLL's defense included some fine plays by Drake Sadosky at first, Creighton Morfitt at 3rd, and David Ksobiech in center.

It's on to the semi-finals for MMLL tomorrow night as the #1 seed against the #2 seed team from Goodyear.

Congratulations to MMLL's team, coaches, president and board.  I believe this was our district's best showing to date at this tournament.

Coach's recount:

McDowell Mountain Little League's (MMLL)  9-10 yr old All-Star run for the State Championship fell short tonight with a 3-2 lost to a determined team from Goodyear Little League. MMLL started out in their typical fashion putting a run on the board in the 1st inning.

Creighton Morfitt took the mound for MML and pitched a beautiful game for 5 innings holding Goodyear to 1 run. MMLL then brought in Michael Ksobiech in the 6th inning who could only be beat by a perfectly laid bunt by Goodyear with 2 men on and 2 outs .

MMLL's defense produced several memorable plays with great catches in the outfield by Jack Baker, David Ksobiech, and Nick Hartson. In typical MMLL incredible fashion, Drake Sadosky threw out a runner at second and then David Ksobiech fielded a ball in deep center, threw it to Michael Ksobiech at shortstop who gunned down a speedy Goodyear runner with a bullet to Drake Sadosky for the out at home. That is amazing baseball from 9-10 yr old boys!

MMLL's bats came alive at times with big hits by Creighton Morfitt and Drew LaSalle. In the 6th inning Michael Ksobiech started off with a triple, Goodyear then walks Creighton Morfitt, and with 2 strikes on him Drake Sadosky hits a two bouncer to the left center field fence to put MMLL up 2-1 in the top of the 6th.But in the bottom of the 6th, Goodyear came up with two runners on base and laid down a perfect bunt that brought in the winning run.

MMLL's run through the District and State tournaments exemplifies all that is good in Little League baseball. They raised their level of play through a tremendous amount of practice, they played hard on the field, enjoyed meeting new friends, let off steam through several fun team building events, and gained experiences that should last them a lifetime.

The Little League (11-12) All Star Tournament got underway tonight at Scottsdale Ranch Park (104th Street & Via Linda) with 4 games.  Three more are scheduled for tomorrow night.  Check out the updated bracket/schedule by clicking on the All Star Tournaments link at the left and choosing "Majors Baseball."

Tonight's games featured 2 games of undefeated teams with the victors, Desert Foothills and North Scottsdale, certainly now having an eye on the playoffs.  However, nothing is for certain so please come out and see what unfolds at Scottsdale Ranch Park (104th Street & Via Linda).  

Check out the updated bracket/schedule/standings by clicking on the All Star Tournaments link at the left and choosing "Majors Baseball."  You will also find there the Arizona State Tournament bracket.

Arcadia Little League became the fourth and final team to move into the semi-final round when they beat South Scottsdale tonight.  As occurred last year, North Scottsdale will play Mountain View in one semi-final series and Desert Foothills will play Arcadia in the other.

No games will be played on July 4th.

In game one tonight, Mountain View Little League (MVLL) overcame a 4-0 deficit to prevail 5-4 versus North Scottsdale Little League (NSLL).  Their series is all knotted up at 1 game a piece.
Game 2 was equally as exciting as Arcadia Little League beat Desert Foothills Little League 3-2.  And their series is all knotted up at 1 game a piece too!
The semi-final winners will be determined Saturday night and they will go on to play Monday evening in the Finals.

Congratulations to Arcadia Little League (ARLL) for winning the 2007 District 6 Little League (11-12s) Baseball Championship!!! 

ARLL beat North Scottsdale (NSLL) 2-1 to sweep the best 2 out of 3 Championship Series.  In a surprisingly low scoring game, ARLL behind excellent pitching and flawless defense kept NSLL to just one run.  The latter did not prove enough for the 2-time defending District 6 Champions.

The district championship was the first for ARLL since 1989.  George H.W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States, was in office at that time.  As many of you know, President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush were honored as Little League's "First Family" for their continued support of the Little League Baseball and Softball program at the 24th Little League International Congress in Houston, Texas in April 2007.  Coincidence or fate????
For the final bracket, please click here. 

(Prescott) Arcadia defeated Canyon View (District 5) 10 to 6.  Arcadia is now 5-0 at the State Tournament.
Here is the coach's recount:
Last night we won 10-6 against Tucson Canyon View. This win moved our record to 5-0 in pool play and more importantly assures us the one seed in the semi-finals on Thursday. We will not know who we play until the Chandler- Douglas game tonight.

In the other pool there are three teams vying for two spots - Douglas, Chandler and Gilbert National. Last night, in an upset, Gilbert beat Chandler 11 - 1. Douglas, who is undefeated, has secured either the one or two seed depending on the outcome of their game tonight against Chandler . This is the big game of the night - Douglas vs. Chandler. With a win tonight, Chandler will get the one seed. With a loss by Chandler, Gilbert will get the two seed and Chandler will be out of the tournament.

In our game last night, we took the lead early and never looked back. For the first game in this tournament we got an early lead and held on. We scored two in the first inning on a walk to Charlie Coppola, a double by Michael Westra, and a single by Connor Messman. Canyon View scored 2 to tie the game but we were not finished. In the third, Alex Sylvester started a huge two-out rally with a double. This opened the flood gates for a 5 hit, 6 run inning. Michael Lucero, Griffin Jax and Jimmy Roren pitched great.

So tonight, we face Mt. Graham to finish pool play. The four final teams (whoever they are) will be capable of wining the state title. The team that plays the best will win and Arizona will have a great representative in the regional tournament in San Bernadino next week. Let's hope it is Arcadia.

Arizona State Little League All Star Tournament

Arizona State Little League All Star Tournament

In the second game of the tournament, Mountain View beat Arcadia 13-3.  Mountain View (1-0) will play McDowell Mountain (0-1) on July 5th, while Arcadia awaits it fate.

(Tucson) In what was certainly a squeaker, MVLL lost to District 12's Southwest Little League 7-6.  MVLL will play again on Friday July 20th versus Casa Grande Little League (District 4).

Mountain View is now 1-2 at the State Tournament. Their next game is Saturday, July 21st against Diamondback (District 3).

(Mohave Valley) Mountain View lost their first game to District 14's Gilbert 6-4.  They then lost to District 5's Flowing Wells 5-2.  MVLL then beat District 8's Sierra Vista by an 11-0 score.  Dalton Kiley threw a no-hitter.

The bracket can be downloaded by clicking here.

(Phoenix) Mountain View won easily tonight 16-1 versus Mohave Valley (District 9).  This brought their record to 1-1.  They had lost previously on July 16th versus Arrowhead Little League (District 2) by a 5-0 score.

For a complete bracket click on the headline and it will take you to District 3's website.

The District-6 Big League team finds itself just 1-win away from a state championship after winning their first 2 games of the tournament.  In their opening game last night, D6 defeated District-2 12-7.  Tonight they defeated District-1 by an 8-6 score.  The latter occurred after a somewhat bizarre series of events.

As reported above, D6 won their opening game last night and were scheduled to play District-13 who had defeated D1 by a 6-3 score.  However, just an hour before D1 was to play D2 in an elimination game at 5:00 PM, news came from the Tournament Committee in Williamsport through the Western Region Director that D13 had been disqualified.  This resulted in D1 being awarded the victory in their first game and required the tournament director, Bob Sanders D10, to make schedule changes.  The first change was to pit D1 versus D6 in tonight's game.  The loser, D1 in this case, will have to play D2 in an elimination game tomorrow at 5:00 PM.  The winner of that elimination game will then play D6 in the State Championship Game later that same night at 7:30 PM.  If D6 should happen to win, then they will be declared the Arizona State Champions.  If they lose the 2 teams will come back on Sunday to play the "if-game" (click here to be able to download bracket).

The D6 team is made up of players from Mountain View Little League, Desert Foothills Little League, and Fountain Hills Little League.  In Big League play, it is quite common for a single team, made up of several leagues, to represent the district.

-coaches game recap......

The first inning was not what we had hoped for. Nevada started with an infield hit (our fans thought he was out) then a sacrifice bunt that the hitter beat out, followed by a hit to score a run. We got a couple of outs but a triple cleared the bases and a bloop single scored a run. 4-0 bad guys. We scored a run in the second on a double by Bryce Hashimoto (1-3) and a single by Kyle Smith(1-3). Jeremy New relieved starting the second and pitched well, allowing 2 runs. Cam Boysen came in to start the fifth and pitched 3 innings allowing no runs. The Nevada pitcher pretty much held us in check until the 5th when TJ Lewis (2-3) cranked a home run. 6-2. But the team never quit and mounted an attack in the bottom of the seventh. Tommy Rowland led off with single (2-3) and Jeremy Fradin pinch ran for him, scoring on a double by TJ. Jeremy New got a hit (1-3), and TJ scored on a sacrifice fly by Grant Bowlin. But a double play ended the game and we fell 6-4. Considering we only had 6 hits we really maximized our runs. A couple more hits and maybe...

To all the parents and players - the team played great - with talent, class and a never-say-die attitude. It was a pleasure to coach them and be with them over the past several days. They behaved like gentlemen at the hotel (the manager said they were the best team they ever had stay there). Thank you for your support and letting us have your kids for this tournament.