Little League Team Looks Like Juggernaut

Perhaps no baseball team in any age division has looked more like a juggernaut than the West Los Angeles Little League's 10 & 11-year-old all-stars.

Manager Vinnie Malcolm's power-hitting squad has demolished its first three opponents in the District 25 Tournament by a combined score of 62-1. 

West LA opened the double-elimination playoffs with a 28-0 shutout of University and followed that with a 21-1 rout of North Venice. In the semifinals of the winner's bracket last Friday, West LA blanked Santa Monica West 13-0.

If West LA winning was not a shock, the margin of victory was. Santa Monica West was riding a wave of confidence after having knocked off perennial power Ladera in the previous round. 

West LA took a four-run lead in the top of the first inning Friday on a grand slam home run to right center field by Andrew Coles--his third homer of the tournament. In the second inning, he singled to bring home Joji Baratelli.

Coles finished 4-for-5 with the homer, three singles and five RBIs.

The left-hander also pitched the last inning, allowing one hit with two strikeouts and one walk. He induced a grounder to third for the final out. 

"Keep my head in, wait for the ball and make contact if it's over the plate," Coles said of his strategy at the plate. "I think if we just get hits we can win [the tournament]."

Coles has played organized baseball since he was 5, starting at Barrington Park and switching to West LA when he was 8.

The early cushion is just what West LA starting pitcher Vince Malcolm needed, as he breezed through the first few innings. He also helped himself at the plate with a bases-clearing double to center field with one out in the top of the sixth. Coles then hit into a fielder's choice to score Malcolm for West LA's final run. 

"Getting that early lead was a huge boost," Malcolm said. "I try try to keep my composure on the mound and go at least three innings. The goal is to get outs and get runs."

If any team can derail the West LA express it might be Santa Monica East. The two teams meet in the finals of the winner's bracket at 6 p.m. Thursday in Ladera Heights. Santa Monica East overcame a 3-0 deficit to beat Culver City in its first game and beat Malibu 13-6 in the semifinals. 

Whichever team wins Friday clinches a spot in the championship game, while the loser drops to the loser's bracket and must win another game to earn a rematch with Friday's winner.

"This was the first time we were not the home team," Manager Vinnie Malcolm said. "We always want to score first so we tried to jump on them early and we did with Andrew's home run. Santa Monica [East] is a good team so we'll need to play well to get where we want to be."