All Ball Sports: Big Game Shohei, big game for Sea Hawks
by Paul Teetor
The popcorn was still popping as All Ball settled in Saturday night for Game 1 of the Dodgers-Padres National League Division Series. And before I could shove the first handful of hot corn in my mouth, the Dodgers were already down 3-0.
Even though the Dodgers were the home team by virtue of having won the National League West, anxiety and fear were the prevailing pre-game emotions in Dodger Nation. The Padres knocked the Dodgers out of the playoffs two years ago, and were more than capable of doing it again. In fact, the Padres felt like the favorites.
That ominous feeling was fueled by two important factors coming into the series: the Dodgers pitching staff was in tatters thanks to an injury epidemic, and the hard-hitting Padres were led by the hated Manny Machado, a talented-but-lazy infielder who spent one year as a Dodger before signing a massive contract with the Padres a few years ago.
On the mound for the Dodgers: Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto, whom the Dodgers signed for $325 million over 10 years last winter even though he had never pitched in a Major League game before this season.
At 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds, he didn’t look ready to take on major league hitters and, in fact, had missed three months in the middle of the season when he got injured by throwing too hard.
Before the popcorn was in the big bowl I had laid out, there were two Padres on base and Machado was striding to the plate with a great big smirk on his face as the home team fans were chanting “Manny sucks, Manny sucks.”
Uh oh!
And then disaster struck: Machado hammered the first pitch into the right field seats for a towering three run home run!
The feeling that surged up in my stomach was inescapable: Same old Dodgers – great in the regular season, chokers in the postseason.
Now they were down 3-0 in the top of the first inning and looking at a long uphill climb just to get back in the game.
Except they’re not the same old Dodgers.
Not anymore.
This year – and for the next nine years — they have the best player in the game: Shohei Ohtani
Shohei’s first at-bat against Dylan Cease, against whom he was 4 for 15 lifetime with a double and two home runs, was a routine fly ball to lead off the bottom of the first.
But Ohtani’s second at-bat? That’s the one that launched a ballpark full of clips and memes on social media.
On a 2-0 pitch, he fouled a 98 mph, four-seam fastball off his right knee. He limped around home plate, and 50,000 already depressed fans winced in sympathy.
The next pitch was another four-seamer, 96.9 mph coming in … and 111.8 mph going out. It landed 372 feet away, in the first few rows of the right field pavilion. Ohtani defiantly chucked his bat in the direction of the first base dugout.
With one swing he had erased the Padres lead.
The message: we’re back, baby!
But in the next inning Yamamoto gave up a two-run double to Xander Bogaerts’ and that sinking feeling returned as I finished the popcorn: Same old Dodgers.
Shohei came up in the fourth inning with men on first and second against reliever Adrian Morejon and hit a broken-bat blooper that fell just in front of the glove of Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill to load the bases.
Morejon wild-pitched a run home, and after Mookie Betts was intentionally walked – with a 2-2 count, no less – and Freddie Freeman grounded into a force play at home, Teoscar Hernandez whacked a two-run single to give the Dodgers the lead for good.
In his seventh major league season, Shohei is finally in the playoffs and already has proved one thing: he looks like the best clutch player to put on a Dodgers uniform since Sandy Koufax, who had that incredible run from 1962-67.
Game 2 Sunday night started the same way as the Padres jumped out to a 3-0 lead. But this time there was no comeback, the Padres won 10-2, and now the series heads to San Diego for games 3 and 4 Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Game 5, if necessary, will be Friday night at Dodgers Stadium.
Cadence Turner had a 67 yard kickoff return for a touchdown called back due to a penalty. Photos by Ray Vidal
Sea Hawks ground attack torpedos Torrance
The Redondo football team broke a 7-7 halftime tie Friday night with 28 unanswered points in the second half and sprinted to a 35-7 win over Torrance.
It was the Sea Hawks first Pioneer League game after being shifted over from the Bay League by the CIF this year.
The second-half comeback in Zamperini Stadium followed a penalty-filled, mistake-prone first half. Redondo did most of its damage with a relentless ground game. Running back Ethan Maleman piled up 96 yards and scored three touchdowns.
“We knew we wanted to run the ball down their throats,” Maleman said. “That was our mindset, and we did not stray from that in the second half.”
Redondo (5-1 overall, 1-0) won its fourth consecutive game and has not allowed more than seven points during that streak. It also registered its second consecutive game of at least 32 points.
On a team that features quarterback Cole Leinart — the son of former USC Heisman winner Matt Leinart and former USC basketball star Brynn Cameron — it was the ground game that gave Redondo its lead in the second half.
Torrance (5-1 overall, 0-1) put some pressure on Redondo in the first half.
Sea Hawk receiver Bo Ausmus runs in a 72-yard touchdown pass from Cole Leinart early in the second half. Photo by Ray Vidal
Malikai Johnson had a 14-yard scoring run and picked off Redondo quarterback Leinart in the end zone. He had 75 yards on 12 carries. Jake Silverman had five catches for 46 yards, added 24 rushing yards and excelled defensively for Torrance. Torrance quarterback Gibson Turner completed 16 of 24 passes for 107 yards but had two first-quarter interceptions.
In addition to the Leinart pass that was intercepted in the end zone, Redondo left some points on the board in the first half. The Sea Hawks had three consecutive penalties to detail a drive that had reached the red zone in the second quarter and had Cadence Turner’s 67-yard punt return for a touchdown nullified by a penalty late in the first half.
“We had a lot of penalties and mistakes – I did a poor job in the first half,” Redondo coach Keith Ellison said. “In the second half, we stopped making mistakes and went back to what we do. Running the ball and getting physical.”
Redondo changed the energy on the opening drive of the second half with an up-tempo six-play, 65-yard drive — all rushing plays — capped by a 15-yard scoring run by Maleman for a 14-7 lead.
From there, Redondo turned on the jets. Milo Youker recorded a 3-yard scoring run for a 21-7 lead at the 5:16 mark, then Maleman scored again on a 2-yard run for a 28-7 lead with 1:28 left in the third quarter.
All those running plays took the pressure off Leinart, who then proceeded to throw a 72-yard touchdown pass to Bo Ausmus at the start of the fourth quarter. Leinart was 5 of 9 passing for 144 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
“We are a running team. It sets up so much,” Ellison said. “When they went into zero coverage it set up that big pass from Cole to Bo. I feel good about where we are playing right now.”
Redondo will host North in a league game Friday night.
Mira Costa, meanwhile, roared back from being shut out last week by Villa Park to register a 49-7 demolition of Lawndale.
So despite having lost two straight games coming into Friday night, the Mustangs are now 1-0 in Bay League play after winning its league opener. They will play Culver City Friday night.
Contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com