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Sports

'Warm Up' Tournament Comes To End

Beaumont, Redlands settle for runner-up honors.

Dodie Carlson walked out of her cluttered office late Sunday afternoon and the nine fields at Noble Creek Park were virtually empty.

No signs of life other than a handful of volunteers.

Just like that the 9th annual Beaumont Youth Baseball Warm Up Tournament was over.

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But not before Carlson delivered on her promise – 51 teams from 11 cities and 750 players got to play 98 games over five days. And an estimated 6,000 fans congregated in Beaumont for some good old-fashioned baseball.

“We do this for the kids,” said Carlson, Beaumont Youth Baseball’s Tournament Director. “It’s all about the kids. It’s about their all star experience. It’s about the kids’ being the best they can be.”

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The tournament started on Wednesday and ran through Father’s Day on Sunday. When it was over six teams had been crowned as tournament champions.

The Shetland Division title went to Moreno Valley. The Pinto Coach Pitch Division title went to Orangecrest. And the Pinto Kid Pitch Division title went to Colton.

The Mustang Division title went to Colton and the Bronco Division title went to Perris. The Pony Division title went to San Jacinto’s Valley Wide team.

“All stars is a real important event to all the leagues,” said volunteer Mike Aldridge, who runs the softball side of the Beaumont Youth Baseball program. “To warm up and to get a feel for the other teams is critical. You have to have a sense of whatever playing level you are at.”

The Warm Up Tournament serves as a true ‘warm up’ for the upcoming All Star season that gets underway in July. Before Carlson started the Warm Up Tournament teams would go into the official all star teams with very little game experience.

“Everyone gets the practice and the games they need and want,” Carlson said. “There are a lot of close games. These teams go to see what they needed to see.”

Carlson’s children have already played their way through the youth sports experience.  Carlson, a volunteer herself, puts her live on life on hold to conduct the tournament.

“These kids have enough pressure on them with all the junk in their lives,” Carlson said. “I want it to be competitive and I want them to love the game. I want it without all the drama. I want this to be a good memory of their baseball and softball years.”

As for the final round of play, the Beaumont All-Stars reached one title game but lost 9-3 to Colton in the Mustang Division contest.

Beaumont’s Connor Garaghty was the team’s MVP. 

“It was a great tournament,” Beaumont coach Ron Moody said. “We got all we wanted out of it. Of course we wanted. We played in the championship game.”

The tournament came to a close with the Pony Division title game. And it went extra innings as San Jacinto’s Valley Wide team scored a 4-3 win over Redlands in eight innings.

It was a tough loss for Redlands but the tournament provided a good glimpse at what the team can expect when the all star season starts.

“The first game we played, we played poorly,” Redlands coach Mike McCarthy said. “But with each game we improved and in each game we fought back.”

Redlands and Valley Wide went into International Tie Breaker format tied at 3. Redlands was unable to pull it out despite the defensive play of the day – Redlands’ Brad Motylweski made a diving catch in right field and then fired the ball off to first base to complete a double play.

“Never underestimate Brad Motylweski,” McCarthy said of Motylweski, who started at first base, shortstop and right field during the tournament. “His uniform is the dirtiest out here. That is how he plays sports.”

Redlands lost in the very next at-bat when Valley Wide’s Manny Leyva singled in the game winning run.

For Redlands, Dylan Cabral and Noah Ordaz each had two hits. And Connor Berry was named the team MVP for the game.

9th Annual Beaumont Youth Baseball Warm Up Tournament

Championship results

Shetland Division: Moreno Valley 12, Orangecrest 6. Moreno Valley MVP: Aiden Magana. Orangecrest MVP: Adam Horcasitas.

Pinto Coach Pitch Division: Orangecrest 24, Jurupa Valley 11. Orangecrest MVP: Team Medal. Jurupa Valley MVP: Daniel Armendariz.

Pinto Kid Pitch Division: Colton 14, Moreno Valley 1. Colton MVP: Sebastian Flores. Moreno Valley MVP: Brandon Delgado.

Mustang Division: Colton 9, Beaumont 3. Colton MVP: Jordan Andrade. Beaumont MVP: Connor Garaghty.

Bronco Division: Perris 7, Redlands 3. Perris MVP: George Valerio. Redlands MVP: Steve Urrea.

Pony Division: Valley Wide (San Jacinto) 4, Redlands 3 (8 innings). Redlands MVP: Connor Berry.

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