Irvine Ranch Little League all-stars stay alive in sectionals

Irvine Ranch Little League players celebrate after Monday’s victory.

Irvine Ranch Little League all-stars stayed alive in the Section 10 tournament, defeating Santa Margarita National 10-3 Monday night  to advance into a rematch Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. with Huntington Valley.

Huntington Valley is undefeated and topped Irvine 2-0 on Sunday. So Irvine needs to win Tuesday and Wednesday to capture the title and move on to the Southern California Championships. The games are at Woodfield Park in Aliso Viejo.

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“It was cool getting them going tonight; it was super fun seeing all the subs coming off the bench hitting line drives,” said Irvine’s acting manager Mike Amundson. “That’s a good team, Santa Margarita. They gave us all we could handle the last time we played them.

NEXT GAME:

• Irvine Ranch Little League meets Huntington Valley Tuesday night at 6:30 at Woodfield Park in Aliso Viejo. Full coverage on OC Sports Zone Tuesday night.

Chase Quezada was the hitting star for Irvine Ranch Monday night with six RBI. He had an RBI single in the third inning, a two-run home run in the fourth and a bases loaded double in the fifth inning.

“The kid is seeing the ball real well now,” Amundson said. “He just had his birthday yesterday so he’s probably still celebrating but he’s really jacking the ball right now.”

Irvine Ranch, which had 11 hits, also got great hitting from Garrett Davidson, who scored two runs and had an RBI triple in the third inning; Jake Amundson, who had two doubles and scored a run and Wylan Moss, who had two hits and an RBI.

In addition Casey Euper had a pinch-hit single in the fifth inning and came around to score as his father, Doug Euper jumped for joy behind the center field fence.

• RELATED STORY: Manager ruled out for tournament.

Euper is not allowed to manage the team because of a substitution rules violation in the championship game of the District 55 tournament, officials said. But he was all smiles after seeing his son’s single. Euper is allowed to attend games and he could be seen texting right after his son’s base hit.

“I knew he was going to do it,” Amundson, the acting manager said. “He’s been taking great BP the last two weeks. I knew if he could get a pitch he could drive he was going to get one. He works hard.”

Starting pitcher Isaac Carpenter and relievers Jake Amundson and  Wylan Moss finished the game for Irvine Ranch.

Santa Margarita scored a run in the first inning but Irvine Ranch scored thee in the third, two in the fourth and four in the fifth to break it open.