By Emma Rosenbaum
Sports Editor
The Manhattan Beach Senior League Baseball team, comprised of all Costa players, ventured into the semifinals at this year’s Senior League World Series. After 15 straight wins in the tournament, the team of 15 and 16-year-old boys traveled to Bangor, Maine on Aug. 13.
After beating Hawaii in its 15th game, the Manhattan Beach team earned the title of Western United States representatives at the Senior League World Series. The team was led by manager Carlos Rojas and assisting coaches Aaron Medina, Jeff Cammonn and Dean Jelmini. The team played a total of five games, earning the best record of their pool.
“Bangor, Maine was a constant inspiration for our team. Our goal was to make it there, and we did. It was a great feeling to achieve our goal,” said Rojas.
Leading up to the semifinals, the team played against the Homes County, Ohio team, representing the Central region of America, and won 6-3.
Next, they played a Palm Bay, Florida team, the representatives from the Southeast. Manhattan Beach won a dangerously close game with a final score of 2-1. The team’s third game in Maine was against Aruba, representing Latin America. Manhattan Beach won, 5-3, although Aruba went on to win the Championship title.
“It feels good to know that we beat the best team in the world. Holding the Western Representative title gave us a lot of confidence, and it was unfortunate that we didn’t make it all the way,” team member Brett Collins said.
After beating Aruba, the Manhattan Beach team defeated Saipan, the Asia Pacific representative team, 11-0.
The team played the Bangor team in the semifinal, and although the game started with a three-run lead in Mira Costa’s favor, the game ended with a 9-3 loss. Despite the defeat, the team members maintain a positive attitude about the experience.
“I’m really proud of how far our team made it this year. It was a long journey, and as disappointing as it is to have lost so close to the end, it’s still great to be third in the world,” said team member Turner Conrad.
While in Maine, the team’s starting pitchers were Anthony Lombardo, Turner Conrad and Sam Omelia. Ryan Franklin started at first base for the majority of the season while Ian Mclaughlan was the team’s starting catcher.
“We had a great team this year. Everything was a team effort and we bonded a lot. It was just a great group of guys who some might say over achieved,” said Rojas.
Ryan Erickson led the team in home runs during the tournament, hitting five of them, while Collins maintained the highest batting average at .500.
“Every player played a great game, and I owe a special thanks to Coach (Cassidy) Olsen of the Costa team for giving me these great players and for being so helpful with them,” said Rojas.
Although the boys suffered a difficult loss in the semifinals, they went farther than any other Manhattan Beach team ever has.
“Bangor was such a great experience. Our team worked so hard together and made this summer worth while,” Conrad said.
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