Irvine Blue Goes 6-0 Wins Memorial Day Tournament

Irvine Blue went 6-0 over the Memorial Day weekend to win their flight in the Irvine PONY 19^th Annual Memorial Day Tournament.

Irvine Blue 15, Placentia Blue 4 – Andrew Dukus, Colton Nishida, Connor O’Brien and Anthony Nemeth combined for a 3-hit pitching performance that kept Placentia in check all evening long. While Jack Harney (3 for 3, 3 SB, 1 RBI) and Dukus (2 for 3, triple, 2 SB, 2 RBI) powered the offense.

Irvine Blue 13, Irvine Green 3 – Jacob Blanchet (pictured at left) pitched two scoreless innings while Quentin Watts (3 for 3, 2 doubles, 1 SB, 3 RBIs) and Nemeth (3 for 3, 2 SB, 2 RBI) keyed the offense.

Irvine Blue 14, Whittier B 13 – After going down early, Blanchet pitched two key innings to keep Irvine close long enough for the offense to take control. This time the bats were led by an incredible effort by Michael Rudin (3 for 3, 2 doubles, 5 RBIs) and Blanchet (3 for 3, double, triple, SB). But it all came down to a play at the plate with the tying run coming home. O’Brien threw a perfect strike to Nishida and Nishida executed a beautiful block and tag play at the plate to secure the victory for Irvine.

Irvine Blue 7, Whittier 0 – Jakob Ho, Watts, Rudin and Harney combined for a 2-hit shutout while the offense came up with a 5-run 5^th inning to propel Irvine Blue into first place in their pool and onto the path to the Championship game.

Irvine Blue 14, Whittier B 3 (Semi-Finals) – Dukus, Blanchet and Devin Lee combined for 4 innings of 1-hit baseball to dominate Whittier B in a rematch of the pool play game. After a couple of walks and errors allowed Whittier to jump to a 3-0 lead at the top 2^nd inning, Irvine came right back with Aidan Klimon (pictured at right) (2 for 2, 2 doubles, 1 BB, 2 SB, 5 RBIs) hitting a line drive double to deep center to score two and begin a 4-run rally to put Irvine on top. In the 3^rd inning, Nick Dougherty (1 for 2, double, 3 RBIs) stroked a beautiful bases-clearing double to start the rout and finally, in the 4^th inning, Klimon came back up with the bases loaded and two outs and hit another line drive double to clear the bases and complete the mercy.

Irvine Blue 10, Irvine Green 5 (Championship) – Irvine Green had dispatched Toluca Lake earlier in the day to secure their spot in the championship game, so regardless of the outcome the championship trophy would reside in Irvine. Lee started the game at pitcher and retired the side without allowing a run. This brought up Blue in the bottom of the first. Lee hit a dribbler back to the mound and was thrown out by Green pitcher Grant Lockwood coming off the mound and first baseman Ben Swanson making the stretch to bring in the ball for the out. O’Brien got on with a single past the 2^nd basemen and Nishida came up and drove a ball deep to right field for a 2-run inside the park home run that came down to a very close play at the plate. Blanchet hit a short fly ball to left field for a single and then stole second base. Klimon battled Lockwood before firing off a two-out single to center to score Blanchet. Irvine Blue 4, Irvine Green 0

Green was able to get one back when Lee walked the first two batters of the 2^nd inning before being relieved by Klimon. C.J. Treinen came around to score on a Josh Boothroyd sacrifice but Blue was able to put out the fire and end the top half of the inning. A Dougherty single allowed him to eventually come around to score in the bottom of the 2^nd on a Watts sacrifice but Lockwood sent the next three batters he saw down one, two, three.  Irvine Blue 5, Irvine Green 1

Klimon started out strong in the top of the 3^rd inning and got the first two outs, but an error and two walks loaded the bases. Fortunately for Blue, Nemeth came in to get the final out and render the base runners harmless. Nemeth then led off the bottom of the 3^rd against new Green pitcher Mark Rogers with a single to left. This began a 5-run Irvine Blue attack powered by singles by Lee, O’Brien, Nishida and a 2-RBI double by Dukus to cap the scoring. Irvine Blue 10, Irvine Green 1

Irvine Green was not going quietly however, as Sean McCray stroked a one-out single to centerfield to begin a 4-run rally capped by Connor Doden’s RBI single to right field. McCray, Boothroyd, Alex Suarez and Rogers all came around to score before Nemeth and Irvine Blue were able to bring the inning to a close. In the bottom of the 4^th, Rogers retired the three batters he faced one, two, three to keep the game within reach. Irvine Blue 10, Irvine Green 5

Nishida came on to pitch in the top of the 5^th inning for Irvine Blue. After a single, a walk and an error loaded the bases, Nishida struck out the next two batters to retire the side. Leonard Memon took the mound in the bottom of the 5^th for Irvine Green and despite two singles and a walk, was able to retire the side with a fielder’s choice and two strike-outs. Irvine Blue 10, Irvine Green 5

Dougherty (pictured at left) came on for Irvine Blue to attempt to close the game. After giving up a leadoff single to Boothroyd, Dougherty struck out the next three batters to retire the side and secure the championship for Irvine Blue. Irvine Blue 10, Irvine Green 5

Irvine Blue is Jacob Blanchet, Nick Dougherty, Andrew Dukus, Jack Harney, Jakob Ho, Aidan Klimon, Devin Lee, Anthony Nemeth, Colton Nishida, Connor O’Brien, Michael Rudin and Quentin Watts. Irvine Blue is coached by Lou Nemeth, Mike Dougherty, Enrique Blanchet and Jerome Harney.

Irvine Green is Josh Boothroyd, Nicholas Davidson, Con nor Doden, Connor Kentros, Grant Lockwood, Sean McCray, Leonard Memon, Kyle Robinson, Mark Rogers, Alex Suarez, Ben Swanson, C.J. Treinen. Irvine Green is coached by Jeff Doden, Jim Kentros and Mike Lockwood.

(Sierra Doden, Gabrielle & Zac after the game)