What started with practices in the rainy days of February, migrated through early figure-it-out days of March and April and then zoomed through May is now done — the Mill Valley Little League regular season is over and the playoffs begin Tuesday!
Congratulations go to the regular season champions: Majors Rays (12-5, and won the tiebreaker over the 12-5 Giants), Minors Mariners (12-3-1) and Minors AAA Royals (12-2).
The playoffs are an entirely new season, and the brackets are viewable at millvalleyll.org. Come out to Boyle to cheer on the kids. And mark your calendars for Super Saturday on June 8, a can’t-miss day for the entire baseball community and town!
The final two weeks of games:
MAJORS
Tigers 4, Red Sox 1 — In the final regular season game of 2024, Kadin Mokari and Jack Chaudhry pitched a gem for the Tigers, each going three innings each while letting up only one run on three hits and one walk combined. Levi Weber led the Tigers in hitting, going 2-for-3.
Cole Swift pitched well for the Red Sox, tossing four innings while only letting up one earned run with two walks and six strikeouts.
Giants 6, Reds 5 — Jackson Blitzer hurled two innings of one-run ball and struck out three, and Quinn Barnard smashed a double as part of a two-hit day to lead the Giants. Hunter Getty went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the winners, and Chance Donahue pitched two clean innings without a walk. Donahue also doubled, and Gray Getty closed it out for the Giants, inheriting a bases-loaded, no-out jam and escaping unscathed.
For the Reds, Hudson Wayne threw four strong innings on the hill, rapped two hits and scored a run. Ronan Coyne, Matthew Cao and Jordan Miller each knocked a double for the Reds.
Tigers 3, Rays 2 — Levi Weber led the Tigers with two hits and two RBIs, and tossed four innings allowing one earned run and whiffing six. Ryan Lynch closed it out for the Tigers with two no-hit innings in 20 pitches.
For the Rays, Boden Medow and August Gottleib delivered key hits to help drive in two runs for the Rays.
Reds 4, Yankees 2 — Hudson Wayne and Matthew Cao each pitched three innings for the Reds, holding the Yankees to three hits and striking out seven. Graz Cerchiai went 3-for-3 at the plate and Hudson Wayne and Owen Benford each had two hits to power the offense.
Oscar Karlen pitched 3 and 2/3 innings for the Yankees, striking out six.
Giants 6, Red Sox 2 — Rory Murphy threw three shutout innings and struck out five with no walks, and added a tie-breaking RBI double for the Giants, while Brodie Williams went 3-for-3 and scored a run. Murphy also scored on a squeeze bunt by Gray Getty. Alex James went 2-for-3 and scored a run for the winners, and Quinn Barnard had a hit and two RBIs. Reid Holbrook also tossed three inning with four strikeouts for the Giants.
For the Red Sox, Cole Swift went 2-for-2 with a double and Lyle Feldman notched two RBIs and a hit.
Rays 4, Tigers 3 — The Rays came from behind with three runs in the bottom of the 4th inning and held on to edge out the Tigers in a well-played game with strong pitching and defense on both sides. The Rays were led by Davis Marshall and Beckett Glynn with two hits and two RBIs each. Glynn and Marshall also each pitched three innings. Luca Bonastalli had a key hit that started the Rays rally.
For the Tigers, Kadin Mokari had two hits and two runs scored and Dylan Vanatta smacked an RBI double. Mokari and Jack Chaudhry pitched for the Tigers.
Rays 12, Reds 2 — Beckett Glynn had three hits, 3 RBI’s and pitched two scoreless inning for the Rays. August Gottlieb had 2 hits and 2 RBIs and Davis Marshall and Henry Ellis each pitched an inning.
Michael Kievman hit a double and scored a run for the Reds.
Red Sox 3, Yankees 1 — Jack Lee hit a double and garnered an RBI and Cole Swift pitched three scoreless innings of no-hit baseball in the second game of a doubleheader. The Yankees received a double and RBI from Sebastian Fals.
Yankees 12, Red Sox 3 — In the first game of a twin-bill, Oscar Walker and Max Vreede each tossed three efficient innings, combining to scatter only two hits and two walks. Oscar Karlen had three doubles and four RBIs and Walker added three hits and scored three runs, while Austen Katz and Charlie Davies each reached base twice and knocked in a combined three runs.
For the Red Sox, Cole Swift had an RBI double in the top of the first to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead and Jack Payne pitched 3 and 2/3 innings with three strikeouts.
MINORS
Cubs 10, Rangers 8 — In a game to decide the 2-seed in Minors playoffs, Rhodes Tewksbury, Tate Shackleton, Jude Willard, Avery Peskin, Will Schluensen, and Ben Locks each contributed RBIs for the Cubs, with Tewksbury drawing three key walks. Joe Blancarte had a key hit, as did Schluensen. On the mound, Abdullah Mullah held the Rangers to one run in two innings and Tyler Feduska and Tate Shackleton closed the game.
The Rangers enjoyed a big home run from Cole Pritchard, and multiple hits from Wyatt Droege, Paxton King and Pritchard. Teddy Holbrook and Patrick Dawson each had a multi-RBI game.
Phillies 6, Giants 5 — The Phils overcame a 5-0 first inning deficit to pull out the win in the regular season finale for both teams. The comeback was fueled by Camden Nelson and John McClatchy’s key RBIs, Jack Devlin’s 2-for-3 day with a run scored, and the go-ahead run plated when Bradley Krischer stole home in the fourth.
Phillies pitchers buckled down behind Devlin (three strikeouts, no walks, no hits) and Henry Schmidt, who struck out three and pitched a decisive 1-2-3 fifth inning, Milo Davies struck out the side in the second inning.
For the Giants, Charlie McIntosh and Laszlo Winn combined for five strikeouts and allowed only one hit. Winn went 2-for-3 with a run scored and shined on defense at shortstop. JP Edwards knocked a two-run double in the first inning.
Rangers 9, Mariners 9 (tie) —
The Mariners comeback was helped by Beau Bremer, who knocked in two runs in the bottom of the 5th, while Les Sollner, Ezra Pope-Meyer and Cody Chittenden all contributed with timely hits and Charlie Youkilis made a scintillating catch in the outfield to prevent a run-scoring hit.
Rangers bats were led by Wyatt Droege who went 2-for-3 with a double two RBIs and Paxton King, who went 2-for-3. Teddy Holbrook, Jake Hollander and Patrick Dawson (3-for-3, double) also notched big hits at key moments.
Mariners pitching was led by Rivington Lee who pitched an inning of shutout ball with three strikeouts and Chittenden, who pitched two innings giving up one earned run with two strikeouts.
Patrick Dawson pitched well for the Rangers, and Paxton King struck out the side in the fourth.
Diamondbacks 11, Giants 9 — Jasper Persson escaped a bases-loaded jam to preserve the win for the D-Backs in a game where the Giants got a big home from Calvin Boehle.
Persson had three hits and two RBIs, Cameron Welstead had two hits and three RBIs and Stone Strader had two hit and two RBIs and some solid defense. Persson struck out five in two innings.
For the Giants, Laszlo Winn smacked two doubles and drove in four and struck out five in two innings. Charlie McIntosh hit a double.
Cubs 8, Phillies 2 — For the Cubs, RBIs came from Zach Cornelius, Tate Shackleton, Jude Willard, and Avery Peskin. On the mound, Abdullah Mullah pitched two, giving up one run. Tyler Feduska struck out three in two scoreless innings, and Tate Shackleton pitched two innings, giving up one run and striking out three. Will Schluensen picked three important throws at first base, and Joe Blancarte made two nice plays at second base.
For the Phillies, Milo Davies shined on the mound with six strikeouts. Jack Devlin crushed a ball to the right/center gap for a Triple, one of his two hits on the day. And Bradley Krischer blasted an RBI double.
Diamondbacks 10, Giants 9 — Greyson Cerne hit a two-out, two-run double for the D-Backs, and Cameron Welstead added two hits and Lucas Parrett and Teddy Zukoski each chipped in with a hit.
Asher Kim made two standout plays at third base to get pivotal outs to keep the game scoreless.
For the Giants, Oscar Campbell smacked a double and Colin Compasano and Everrett Bailey each added hits.
Cubs 13, Phillies 3 — Tate Shackelton had a three-hit, three-RBI day, while Tyler Feduska and Joe Blancarte each drove in a pair of runs for the Cubs and Avery Peskin notched three hits. Rhodes Tewksbury, Jude Willard, Declan McAteer and Elijah Boley added RBIs.
For the Phillies, Jack Devlin, Milo Davies, and John McClatchy each had hits and scored. Devlin struck out three and allowed just one earned run, and Blake Noller made a standout catch in right field.
Diamondbacks 10, Rangers 9 — In a game that started April 4 in the rain, was halted, and then resumed on May 19, the Diamondbacks held on after a furious Rangers comeback to win.
The D-Backs built an 8-0 lead helped by a grand slam from Jesper Persson, and two scoreless innings from Cameron Welstead. The Rangers came all the way back, but a bases-loaded walk for the D-Backs secured the win. Stone Strader pitched a scoreless top of the sixth, and Finn Shumway had two hits and Charlie Fadrhonc brought home a run with a squeeze bunt.
Jake Hollander and Patrick Dawson each pitched well for the Rangers.
MINORS AAA
A’s 9, Cardinals 3 — Ava Johnston and Charlie Moore had big hits for the A’s, and Sam Woodard and Henry Lin pitched well for the winners.
For the Cardinals, Marco Hernandez threw out a runner from the outfield and Mateo Meller smashed a triple.
Pirates 10, Giants 4 — The Pirates got multiple hits from Alex Supple, Ian Boley and Otto Fackler. Stefen Sigg, Zach Everett, Jack Gracey, Noah Simons and Logan Miyasato also added hits.
The Giants received hits from Dash Chocron, Liam Pirrone and Burke Hall.
Royals 6, Giants 5 — Oliver Lynch went 3-for-3 with a double for the winners, and Pax Parsa-Grenough chipped in with a critical two-out, two-run knock. Henry Hiscott notched a strikeout in his first career pitching performance.
Danni Klievman had two hits for the Giants and Liam Pirrone pitched well.
A’s 6, Pirates 4 — Conrad Malone, Paul Coogan and Henry Lin each had key hits for the A’s and Sam Woodard pitched well.
Stefen Sigg had a big hit for the Pirates, and Otto Fackler turned a double play.