Moorpark trumps Conejo Valley in 10- and 11-year-old championship

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers QUICK HANDS- Conejo Valley Little League shortstop Quinn Stapp goes to second with the ball for a force out during Monday's title game at Fiore Field in Thousand Oaks. Moorpark defeated CVLL, 5-1, to advance to the Section 1 tournament in Goleta. For the first three games of the District 13 10- and 11-year-old All-Star tournament at Fiore Field in Thousand Oaks, Moorpark Little League whipped its opponents with an offense that averaged 16.6 runs per contest.

In Monday's championship against Conejo Valley Little League, the tournament host who'd lost to Moorpark 17-7 just days before the finale, Moorpark relied on sparkling defense and a spectacular effort by starting pitcher Connor Moses to secure the district title.

Moses threw a complete game six hitter, striking out four without issuing a walk, to lead Moorpark to a 5-1 victory.

The team now advances to the Section 1 tournament, scheduled to begin Saturday at Dos Pueblos Little League in Goleta.

"The key was to throw strikes and keep it low," Moses said. "My coach said to keep the ball down."

Moses, who threw a 42-pitch complete game earlier in the tournament, battled through an injury to his hip throughout the title game. The day before the championship, he crashed on his skateboard, causing a bit of pain in his side.

"It bothered me a little, but it didn't hurt my pitching," he said.

Indeed. Moses retired the first eight Conejo Valley hitters he faced before Cody Thoma's single in the top of the third inning broke up the no-hitter.

The inning before, in the bottom of the second, Moorpark took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by third baseman Austin Ready.

Ready finished the game 3for-3 at the plate with two RBI and a pair of runs scored.

"Austin was definitely in a groove," Moorpark head coach Scott Costi said. "He's hitting the ball square (on the bat), lots of line-drives. He was key, and he's been that way throughout the whole tournament."

In adding to its lead, Moorpark scored a pair of runs in both the fourth and fifth innings.

Conejo Valley got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning when a one-out double by shortstop Quinn Stapp plated the team's lone run.

Scott Clarke, head coach of the Conejo Valley squad, said he was proud of the way his team competed.

"Our kids played hard, and they executed," Clarke said.

"This Moorpark team is absolutely lights-out. They played real well, and they played their best when they needed to. . . . As tough as it is to say, the better team won today."

Conejo Valley received a strong pitching performance from Lukas Richmond, who went four innings, allowing six hits.

"He was a pitcher today," Clarke said. "He was changing speeds against a very, very good hitting team. He pitched against them the first time, and they hit him hard. But he made some huge adjustments today to keep them off-balance the entire game."

Most impressive, however, was the performance of Moorpark's defense.

Second baseman Sherman Brawner, catcher Cameron Costi, left fielder TJ Letson and right fielder Kenny Varnell all made plays during the game that could have easily landed on a "SportsCenter" highlight reel.

Letson's diving catch in left was all the more remarkable considering he was coming off a broken finger that had kept him out of the entire tournament to date.

Varnell made a nice grab in right field before doubling off a Conejo Valley baserunner at second to end the game.

"We've had great offensive production, but our real strength is in our defense," Costi said. "I wasn't surprised in the least by what happened. Those are the type of plays we usually make."

Many of the Moorpark players were on last year's 9 and 10year-old District 13 All-Star squad that advanced to the sectional round before being eliminated in two games.

Costi believes this year's team is prepared to go even further.

"We learned last season that going from district to sectionals, there is much stiffer competition," Costi said. "A game of this magnitude, I think it's really going to help us advance in the sectionals and be a little more successful."

Thousand Oaks

Little League in title games

The Thousand Oaks Little League 11 and 12yearold AllStars needed one win over Moorpark to claim the District 13 championship.

The teams played Wednesday afternoon at TOLL. A final score wasn't available prior to press time. If Moorpark won Wednesday's contest, the teams would play again today.

Moorpark and Thousand Oaks also faced off the District 13 9and 10-year-old championship Wednesday afternoon at Moorpark Little League, with Moorpark needing only a single victory to take the title.