Klimonology

Neither Rain, Nor 10U Teams Could Stop the Devils

Despite playing their pool play games in high 40 degrees and heavy rain (at points), the O.C. Sun Devils won out and took first in their pool on Sunday during the Triple Crown Sunday One-Day Qualifier. Their first opponent, the 10UAA AABC Eagles, had just come off a pool play victory over the 10UAA Desert Baseball Academy and might have come in over-confident facing a 9U team, but the Devils quickly set them straight as they pounded out 13 runs on 7 hits and 6 walks to beat the Eagles 13-3 in a time-shortened game. Despite the very cold and wet conditions, pitcher Jake Nadley held the Eagles to 3 runs (only 2 earned) on 2 hits.

That brought up Desert Baseball Academy and after the first inning it looked like the Devils might have their hands full as they only led 2-1, but after knocking in 5 runs in the second inning, the Devils were firmly in control as time expired. Will Rudy allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and pitched valiantly in very cold, wet conditions. This win gave the Devils the top seed in their pool and earned them some time off before their next game. Fortunately, the sun decided to make an appearance and despite being a bit chilly, the Devils were drying off as they prepped for their game against the GSA Mayos, another 10UAA team.

Trevor Klein took the mound for the Devils and did a good job keeping the Mayos in check, but the Devils made five errors behind him and gave up the tying run in the top of the third inning. Aidan Klimon led off the bottom of the third and became the first base runner as he was hit by pitch on the first pitch thrown to him. The Mayos proceeded to walk Jake Lappin and Hunter Cope to load the bases with no outs, but Klein hit into a fielder's choice and Rudy struck out to bring up Nadley with the bases loaded and two outs. Nadley worked a 7 pitch walk-off walk to win the game and propel the Devils into the championship.

The Devils sent Hunter Cope against the Eaters BBC (10UMajor) in the championship game. The first inning ended with the Eaters up 2-1 on the strength of a ground-rule double, a sac fly and three walks. The Devils scored their lone run as Jakob Ho came home on Klimon's sac fly. The second inning was a different story as the Devils got three outs without giving up any runs and then pounded the ball as they batted around in the bottom half of the inning. Rudy kicked off the inning with a six pitch at-bat which led to a single up the middle and the gloves were off as Nadley laid down a bunt single, Matthew McClure followed with a single, then Ho hit into a fielder's choice with no out recorded which scored a run. The first out came on Connor O'Brien RBI groundout, but then Klimon worked a walk and Lappin followed that with an RBI single. Cope followed with another walk before Klein and Rudy struck out to end the inning, but the damage was done as the Devils had put up 5 runs and had a commanding 6-2 lead. The Eaters were held scoreless in the third as Lappin came on in relief of Cope and they added another run after Jakob Ho doubled, then stole 3rd and home. Things got a little dicey in the top of the fourth as the Eaters scored two runs on two doubles, but Lappin shut them down and the Devils took home the hardware with a 7-4 win over a 10UMajor team.

Sitting Is Killing You (and Me!)

Via: Medical Billing And Coding

Mother's Day at the Angels Game

We had the good fortune of being invited to go see the Angels game on Mother's Day from the Klein's dugout suite. My personal trip included walking an extra couple of hundred yards through the stadium looking for an extra Mother's Day sun hat giveaway that Gabi didn't get and finding Zac cotton candy. Failed in the first mission, but was successful in the second. Fortunately, Bob Klein had gotten a hat and was kind enough to let Gabi have it.

Everyone had a great time and we got to see a great game with the Angels coming from behind to beat the red-hot Indians!

What an amazing view! We were able to "chat frequently" with members of the Indians as they were preparing to bat. Grady Sizemore even commented that he had indeed called his mother for Mother's Day. We wrapped up the day in front of the Angels scoreboard that read: "Happy Mother's Day!"

O.C. Sun Devils Take 5th Annual Bat Wars Championship!

Bottom of four, the Sun Devils hold a 7-4 lead over the Mid Valley Warriors in a back and forth game. One out, Warriors at first and second and Manager Mark Cresse lifts pitcher Jake Nadley for right-hander Will Rudy.

Rudy had pitched valiantly against the Warriors the day before in pool play, but it was for naught as the Warriors held on for a one-run victory. The Devils opened pool play with a 13-8 victory against the Chino Hills Storm. Trevor Klein took the mound for the Devils and came up the winner as the Devils’ offense took advantage of five Storm miscues and scored 13 runs on 8 hits. Connor O’Brien led the way with three hits and a walk in five plate appearances with Matthew McClure contributing another two hits and a run scored. Jake Nadley also delivered in the clutch with a 2-RBI single and an RBI groundout.

Next up for the Sun Devils were the Mid Valley Warriors. Will Rudy took the mound for the Devils and gave up only two earned runs across four innings of work. Unfortunately, two key errors allowed another three runs to score and the Devils trailed 5-2 entering the fifth. (Of note was Nadley entering to pitch int he fourth inning with runners on first and second and one out. On his second pitch he induced an inning ending 1-4-3 double play!)

Jake Nadley flew out to right to start the inning, but then Rudy, McClure, Jackson LoBianco were walked in succession to load the bases. A wild pitch to Jakob Ho scored Rudy and another walk issued to Ho loaded the bases again. O’Brien hit a line drive to right field that scored a second run but the Warriors right fielder was able to throw O’Brien out at first to notch the second out of the inning. Unfortunately for the Devils, catcher Aidan Klimon hit a chopper right to third base for the final out and the game was called on time.

Oddly enough, this loss may have been just what the Devils needed. The week before the Devils had a player leave the team in the middle of the tournament and the boys never got it together as they were soundly beaten by a tough Die Hards squad twice in the USSSA Easter Classic. The boys knew that this tournament featured a great field of Southern California 9U teams and they had something to prove. They had played with heart and intensity against a great Warriors squad and had come up just short, feeling cheated as much by the clock as anything that happened on the field.

Third basemen Jashial Jakel-Morrissey gets an infield single to load the bases and the pressure is on. Two of the best 9U players in California are up next and the bases are loaded. Kevin Olmos steps into the batter’s box…

Sunday began with a game against Team Rawlings. Hunter Cope took the mound for the Devils and was nearly unhittable as he turned in three innings of 1-hit shutout ball before giving way to Ho in the fourth. Rawlings pitcher Kyle Kerr got off to a great start but was let down by his defense as two unearned runs came in to score over the first two innings. The Devils finally got to Kerr in the third when O’Brien, Klimon and Jake Lappin strung together three hits. O’Brien came in on a balk, Klimon’s courtesy runner Connor Kentros scored on Lappin’s double and Lappin scored when Klein hit into fielder’s choice with no out recorded. Rawlings made some noise in the fifth and scored on a balk and an error and again in the sixth when third basemen Ryan Sveningson was walked and came around to score on an error. With two outs and a runner at second base, Jake Nadley was called on for a one out save that he got when he induced catcher Harrison Owen to fly out to centerfield.

Rudy toed the rubber with an eye on redemption. He had pitched excellently the day before against the Warriors but still came away with a loss. He wanted to ensure that the lead given to him by Nadley would hold. Rudy’s first pitch to Olmos resulted in a swinging strike, the second a foul ball, the third was another foul and the fourth was a ball high. Olmos fouled off the next two pitches before going down swinging. Two outs, but the bases were still loaded for the dangerous Erik Rivas…

The win over Team Rawlings put the Devils into the semi-finals against Damage Control. Jake Lappin took the mound and pitched the Devils to a complete game 8-5 victory, scattering five hits and four earned runs across five innings. Two weeks earlier at the SGV Hustle Tournament of Champions the Devils had beaten Damage Control 10-5 taking control of the game early and never looking back. This game was different as the Devils and Damage Control matched score inning by inning for the first three innings. Then Damage Control took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning to go up 5-4, but the Devils roared back with four runs in the top of the fifth to put the game away. Offensively the Devils were keyed by Lappin going 3-for-3 with 2 RBIs; Klimon going 2-for-3 with an RBI; Klein going 1-for-3 with 2 RBIs and McClure knocking in two runs off of a single and a sacrifice fly.

Rivas hit the first pitch that he saw weakly back to Rudy who flipped it to Klimon at the dish for the third and final out. The Devils now had the chance to close out the game’s final six outs without seeing Olmos or Rivas again.

Jake Nadley took the mound for the Devils and Emilio Morales took the mound for the Warriors in the championship game. Morales held the Devils scoreless in the top of the first and Nadley returned the favor in the bottom of the first. The Devils opened the scoring in the second on singles by Cope and Nadley and a sacrifice bunt by Rudy, but the Warriors were able to come back with three runs of their own in the bottom half. The Devils and Warriors traded runs in the third but the Devils trailed by one. The Warriors changed pitchers to Bruce Yamamoto in the top of the fourth and the Devils immediately took advantage scoring four runs after Cope led off with a double and O'Brien finished the scoring with a two-run single. Nadley started the inning, but a single, a fielder's choice and a bloop pop-up put two runners on with only one out...

Rudy kicked off the fifth inning with a ground ball out, Nadley (at 2nd) to Lappin (at 1st), this was followed by 6-3 and 5-3 outs. The Devils were held scoreless in the top of the sixth but still held the lead and were three outs away from the win. The first out was a grounder to Lappin at 1st. The second another grounder to Cope at 3rd and the third and final out came on another ground out to Cope at third. The Devils are the 5th Annual Bat Wars Champions with a 7-4 over the Mid Valley Warriors!