The Cardinals scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to fly past the Nationals, 5-4, for the Culver City Little League Majors championship.
After advancing to the Tournament of Champions, the Cardinals lost to Ladera, 5-3.
Managed by Chip Netzel and assisted by veteran coaches Chris Martinez, Joe Calo and Aaron Minoda, the Cardinals won the Major division for the second consecutive season.
The final game in the two-out-of-three event between the league’s top two teams, the Cardinals and the Nationals, teetered back and forth until the Cards came out on top.
The Nationals intentionally walked Cardinal home run record-holders Michael Netzel and Nolan Martinez in the bottom of the first inning. The strategy backfired, however, when the next Cardinals batter, Matthew Rummelsburg, slammed a round-tripper over the center field fence for a 3-0 lead.
In a game against the Yankees, Netzel smashed three home runs out of the park against three different pitchers. And in another game, Netzel and Martinez twice hit back-to-back homers.
The Nationals battled back, scoring four runs in the second and third innings to lead, 4-3.
The Cardinals fired back in the bottom of the sixth, with two runs to clinch the title and climaxed by Kai Jacinto’s center field shot that drove in the winning run from second base.
Martinez and Jacinto both hit grand slams in the first game of the championship series, won by the Cardinals, 20 -10.
The Nationals defeated the Cardinals, 6-2, in the second game of the series.
With only four returning players from last season and eight players with no Majors experience, Netzel and his coaches transformed the relatively young team into one that would be competitive against teams with seasoned players.
Players who at the beginning of the season had a difficult time hitting the ball, started to connect with regularity. The team’s catcher, who at the start of the season had fallen over backward after catching a fastball, learned to keep his balance.
The hard work paid off with a 90% winning percentage, including an end-of-season 13-game winning streak.
The Cardinals roster includes Andrew Calo (third base/pitcher), Elias Cathcart (short stop/center field/pitcher), Austin Gabriel Coombs-Perez (first base), Adam Friedenthal (right field), Fabian Galvan (left field), Jacinto (right field), Joshua Leon (left field/right field), Martinez (pitcher/catcher/short stop/first base), Bryan Minoda (second base/pitcher), Netzel (short stop/pitcher/catcher), Anthony Ornelas (all outfield positions), and Rummelsburg (catcher/pitcher/first base/center field).
