Moraga Reds Mustangs 10u All-Stars Clean Up In Postseason Tourneys

The season culminated in a tourney at Manteca's Field of Dreams, with each field modeled after some of the classic historical MLB ballparks, including Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Tiger Stadium, Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds. The Moraga Reds finished 2-2, closing out the season in impressive style with a big 12-2 victory over the Tracy Tide.

The Moraga All-Stars were represented by each of the eight MBA Mustang teams in the postseason. The 1st place Red Sox (12-2) sent a quartet of players in Lucas Allen, Luca Brown, Connor Gregg and and Donovan Robles. The co-2nd place Yankees and Giants (9-5) sent Tommy Raftis (Yankees), Jake O'Balle and Steffen Westphal (Giants).

The 4th place Angels (7-6-1) were represented by John and Luke Campo and the 5th place Cardinals (6-7-1) sent Adrian Hyatt. The 6th place A's (5-9) placed Paul Gannett, the 7th place Cubs (4-10) had Jonathon Gong and Will Bishop and the 8th place Pirates (3-11) sent Nick Kronenberg.

The Reds were paced at the plate by Gong (.571), Allen (.564), Westfal (.438) and Bishop (.433). The Reds were also led in doubles (4), home runs (1), RBI (23) and stolen bases (24) by Allen, triples by Robles (2) and walks by Kronenberg (10).

On the mound, the top hurlers were Raftis (6.00 ERA), Westphal (6.23), Allen (6.85) and Hyatt (9.82).

The Reds were coached by Red Sox coaches Sean Brown and Steve Allen, along with Angels coach Steve Campo.

"The area we come from is tiny compared to the level of competiton we're playing," said Brown. "It's really impressive to see this small sample of kids come out here and compete at this level."

The 10u Mustangs are outgoing 4th and 5th grade students and are in their second to third year of playing player pitch ball - a year they often hit their stride as young ballplayers.

"It's been impressive to see," said Campo. "These kids are now throwing off-speed stuff and learning how to sit back and wait and adjust their swing to what they're seeing."

The coaches see the postseason schedule as something to build upon in their players' young careers and were happy the way they competed against teams from larger communities that also played together in significantly more games.

"A lot of the teams we competed against played 40-50 games together and we played about 10 so we're getting better with each game," said Allen.

The next stop for the young All-Stars is a step up in competition with the MBA Broncos, beginning just next month with fall ball.

To see video highlights and player and coach interviews from the Manteca tournament, use the viewer above.

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