Tigers, D-Backs battle for league’s top spot

Season play came to a head this week with tournament action at Rotary.

Season play came to a head this week with tournament action at Rotary.

The dust has settled, and all but two teams are left to battle for the Little League Majors Championship.

The game was played yesterday at Lower Rotary Field. Results will be in Wednesday’s edition of the Review along with the All-Star teams for baseball and softball.

The Tigers topped the American League with a 9-5 win over the Mariners in the AL championship game.

The Mariners jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first three innings behind solid pitching from Caleb Samson.

But the Tigers, once again, clawed their way back, scoring seven unanswered runs in the final three innings.

Sam Kallas had three hits for the M’s while Jack Post added two more, and Samson had a towering home run in the first inning.

The Tigers had good pitching performances by Tino Peleti, Alex Hoover and Casey McKay. Jesse Moore had a home run and a two RBI single in the sixth inning.

They made it thanks to their comeback, 10-7 win over last year’s champion Yankees in a semifinal playoff game on Sunday.

The Yankees jumped out to a 7-1 lead after two innings, but the Tigers scratched their way back over the next four innings with key hits and good baserunning.

Leading the way for the Yankees at the plate was Sammy Orrey with two hits while Logan Brooks had a double.

Tino Peleti had three hits for the Tigers, including an RBI double while Casey Mckay added two hits. Both Alex Hoover and McKay did their job in shutting down the Yanks the rest of the way.

The M’s made it to the AL championship with their 11-7 semifinal win over the A’s.

It started off in traditional fashion as the rain began an hour before the Mariners and Athletics took the field.

The A’s Carter Kraus and Trent Schulte started it off with shots to right field, quickly putting five runs on the board.

But the Mariners came back narrowing it to a two run deficit going into the top of the second, then turned it on offensively in the fourth and fifth innings.

Samson and Isaac Glanzrock each had homers in the win.

The Diamondbacks are the National League representatives thanks to their 6-3 win over the Rockies in the NL championship game.

The Rockies scored first in the top of the second, but the Diamondbacks answered in their half of the inning with three runs. Chase Culton drove in one and Ben Kussie pushed two across the plate with a triple to right center.

As Diamondbacks hurler Jacob Christensen allowed only two hits in his four innings of work, the D’backs scored three more in the fourth inning as Ben Kussie ripped another extra base hit.

The Rockies then loaded the bases on two consecutive intentional walks. Will Houser used a shallow single to drive in one more and Michael Crowley stole home to complete the scoring.

The Rockies scored two in the fifth inning with a timely hit from Ricky Ackerley with Brett Green and Sam Maracich on base, but Crowley came in to close the game out as he struck out the side in the sixth.

After a one day rain delay the sun shined bright for the Diamondbacks with a 8-3 win over the Pirates, last years’ National League Champion, in a semifinal playoff game.

The Pirates started fast with two runs in the first inning by Adam Pool and Campbell Queen, taking advantage of a shaky D’back defense. The D’backs scored one in the bottom of the first.

The Pirates scored one in the top half of the 3rd inning, then the D’backs took the lead, scoring four runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Culton got the D’backs started with a long double to left field, followed by a single from Ben Kussie.

Michael Crowley scored two on a double to right field and Jacob Christensen drove Crowley in with a single. Scott Wyman finished the scoring by driving in Christensen with a shot to left field.

The D-Backs added three more runs in the fourth after a Kussie walk and hits by Crowley and Christensen.

Wyman held the Pirates scoreless in an inning of work while Crowley pitched the last two, holding the Pirates scoreless while facing just seven batters.

Bryce MacDonald picked up the final RBI.

The Rockies made it to the championship game with their 13-1 win over the Reds in quarterfinal action of the playoffs.

The Rockies rocketed to an 11-0 lead in the first inning on the strength of three home runs by Lincoln Beal, Ricky Ackerley and Zander Silverman, the latter being a grand slam.

Brett Green kept the Reds at bay through three innings on the mound before Ackerley threw the final inning of shutout relief. The Rockies’ defense did its job as well, notably three successful chances without a mistake by third baseman Sam Maracich.