This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Collins Delivers, All-Stars Are Walk-Off Winners

Manhattan Beach wins first game in pool play at Senior League World Series in walk-off fashion, beating Palm Bay, Fla., the Southeast champion, 2-1

BANGOR, Maine – With a golden opportunity staring him square in the face, Bret Collins wasn't about to wait around.

The Manhattan Beach All-Stars had runners on first and third on Sunday in the bottom of the seventh inning and a chance to start its Senior League World Series run with a flourish.

Collins smacked the first pitch he saw from Palm Bay, Fla., reliever Matthew Rose into deep left field as the U.S. West champions walked off the Mansfield Stadium diamond with a dramatic 2-1 victory over the U.S. Southeast champs.

Find out what's happening in Manhattan Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I was looking dead fastball, I was just trying to hit it out of the infield," Collins said. "It was my favorite pitch, right down the pike."

Brett Clark led off the bottom of the seventh by reaching on an error on a grounder to second, as Matt Romencletti's throw pulled first baseman Matt Meyer off the bag. Ryan Erickson then singled, but was erased on a fielders' choice, leaving runners on first and third for Collins.

Find out what's happening in Manhattan Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Manhattan Beach had been stymied throughout the afternoon by Palm Bay starter Meyer, who pitched six strong innings and allowed just one run on three hits.

"When we started our run to get here, we had games where we were scoring 15-20 runs," said Manhattan Beach manager Carlos Rojas. "As you move on in these tournaments, the pitching's going to get batter. Our hat's off to [Meyer], he was phenomenal."

Palm Bay took a 1-0 first-inning lead as Meyer singled, went to second on an errant throw and took third when no one covered the bag, all on the same play. He eventually scored on a wild pitch.

That was an uncharacteristic mistake from a fundamentally sound Manhattan Beach club.

"I asked the umpire, do you guys kill the play or call time when nothing's going on, and they said no, you have to call it," Rojas said. "That's a learning experience for us as well."

Manhattan Beach got a run back in the second on a walk, hit, sacrifice and fielders' choice RBI by Jackson Lipps.

Meyer and the Mustangs' Anthony Lombardo were both outstanding, while Lombardo allowed just one run, which was unearned, on two hits in five innings of work. Morgan Ascher fired two hitless innings to pick up the win in relief.

"He did a great job coming in and shutting them down," Lombardo said.

Ascher struck out four and walked one in his two innings.

"I just kind of started off the guys with fastballs and as I got deeper in the counts I threw more curveballs," Asher said. "It was just working today. I was confident throwing it."

Manhattan Beach, which hit the cover off the ball in the state and regional tournaments, was baffled by left-hander Meyer, who featured a solid curveball.

"He did a great job keeping us off-balance, keeping us guessing," Lombardo said.

Ian McLoughlin, Sam O'Melia and Lombardo had singles for Manhattan Beach while Cameron Howard's third-inning single was Florida's other hit.

The team's full schedule is available here.

–By Ryan McLaughlin

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?