Playoffs began for the Ahwatukee Little League Majors division this past week.

Eight teams compete in a double-elimination tournament to determine the champion. The Cubs and Padres have advanced to the semifinals in the winner’s bracket, while the Astros, Royals, Dbacks, and Dodgers stay alive in the elimination bracket.

Brewers 1, Cubs 4  

The Brewers threatened early as their first three batters reached base. Dylan Schott doubled, and Burton Bowen and Wyatt Manusharow followed with walks.

With the bases loaded and no one out, Walter Mangum hit a deep sac-fly to center field, which scored the game’s first run. But the Cubs doubled off the runner attempting to tag from first base.

What started as a promising rally ended with the Brewers scoring only one run.

The Brewers’ Burton Bowen pitched a remarkably efficient game, getting through five innings on a proficient 56 pitches. He ran into trouble in the third, when Luke Bennet and Dane Moser singles set the table for a Joel Fraire triple that gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead. The Cubs tacked on an insurance run in the fifth when Max Bruch doubled and later scored on a Moser single.

The Cubs brought in Zach Viau to close the game, and he did just that. He surrendered a base hit to Wyatt Manusharow but induced three groundouts to seal the win. 

Padres 7, Yankees 6 

This back-and-forth affair was an instant classic. The Padres scored two in the opening frame thanks to a Dom Oddonetto single. The Yankees answered as their first five batters reached base and three scored on walks and passed balls.

In the third inning, the teams again traded blows. Jake Dowd and AJ Parker doubled in runs as the Padres took a 5-3 lead. The Yankees tied it up with several timely walks. After three, the score stood at 5-5.

Heading into the last inning, the Yankees clung to a 6-5 lead. The Padres’ AJ Parker walked and Dom Oddonetto singled. Parker scored on a passed ball, and Roman Garner gave the Padres a 7-6 lead.

Undaunted, the Yankees mounted a threat in their last at-bat. Bridger Bohnet singled and represented the tying run. With one out, Cole Stojak smoked a ball to center field, which was caught. The Padre defense then doubled off Bohnet to win the game. 

Royals 1, Astros 4

The Royals opened this low-scoring match up as Henry Garvy doubled, advanced to third, and later scored on a wild pitch. Chasing one run, the Astros put together a steady rally. Jack Burik, Cash Mayorga, Cannon Mayorga, and Josiah Caraveo all singled to score two. CJ O’Neal produced a productive groundout scoring a third run. After the first, the Astors led 3-1.

Going forward, runs came at a premium. The Astros tacked on one more in the third as Caraveo knocked in Cash Mayorga. But the Royals’ Kade Kendrick and Addison Mengistu, along with the Astros’ Caraveo and the Mayorga brothers, put on pitching clinics. The Astro trio, in particular, struck out fourteen Royals on the day.

In the top of the sixth inning, Cannon Mayorga struck out the Royals in order to secure the win and keep the Astros in the winners’ bracket. 

Dodgers 5, Dbacks 14

The Dbacks offense exploded in this opening-round  matchup to carry the snakes to victory. The Dodgers opened the scoring in the top of the first. Roman De Luna and William Borbon singled, followed by a Tiago Melero walk to load the bases. Kody Fairburn then brought all three home with a three-run double.

The Dbacks only scored two in their half of the first, but the dam broke open in the second. The Dbacks strung together six singles and sprinkled in several walks to put seven more runs on the board. They went on to score four more in the fifth. Top Dbacks hitters included Grant Williams and Miles Tomasek, who each went 2-2 with an RBI.

Dbacks pitcher Jamarri Gomez threw three splendid innings, striking out eight while walking just one and giving up three hits. Miles Tomasek closed out the game with two strong innings of his own.

Padres 6, Dbacks 1

The Dbacks took the lead in the first inning as Liam Marcotte singled and later scored to take a 1-0 lead. The score stood at 1-0 until the top of the fourth inning. 

The Padres’ Luke Ivany led off the inning with a triple and then scored during Hunter Mckee-Aaby’s at-bat. Tyson Snyders then hit a two-run inside-the-park homerun on a hard ground ball that barely stayed fair down the left field line. AJ Parker later brought in Jake Dowd on a single to center field.

The Padres would not relinquish the lead. In the sixth, Snyders scored on a Jake Dowd triple. Jackson Beeson brought Dowd home on a sac-fly to right field.

But the day belonged to the Padre pitchers. AJ Parker pitched four innings, surrendering one run and striking out eight. Snyders matched his brilliance, allowing no hits and just one walk while striking out four over the final two innings.

Dodgers 9, Yankees 8 

Each team entered this matchup facing elimination with a loss, and both teams fought valiantly to keep their championship hopes alive. The Yankees started off hot in the first inning. Cole Stojak smashed a ball to deep center and flew around the bases for an inside-the-park homerun. Kase Fucello and Mac Ritchie followed with singles, and both came home on a Bryson Croxton triple. 

When the dust settled, the Yanks led 4-0. They tacked on two more in the third thanks to a Ritchie triple and several key walks.

Though trodden in the dirt, like dust the Dodgers rose. In the fourth, Tiago Melero tripled in William Borbon. Davis Martin doubled in Melero, and William Allen knocked in Martin. Suddenly the Dodgers had cut the Yankee lead in half.

Finding themselves down 8-3 in the final inning, the Dodgers mounted a gritty comeback. Fairburn, Borbon, and Melero singled, as did Allen. A Martin single later tied the game at eight, and a Fairburn ground ball to shortstop scored the go-ahead run. Suddenly, the Dodgers led 9-8.

Melero took the mound in the bottom half of the inning and struck out the side while walking one, completing the Dodger comeback.

A special thanks to the Yankee coaching staff of Dan Fuccello, Jason Droz, and Patrick Ritchie, for their time and dedication this season. 

Astros 7, Cubs 8 

Two of the division’s best teams did not disappoint in this extra-inning matchup.

The game went back and forth until the Astros scored four in the fourth inning to take a healthy 7-2 lead. A Josiah Caraveo double and Colton Hagen single capitalized on several walks to put the Astros ahead. Though bruised, the Cubbies were not broken. In the bottom of the fifth, Zach Viau clubbed an inside-the-park home run to cut the deficit to three. In the sixth inning, Sammy Guo led off with a walk, and Jaxson Marinero followed with a single. Guo scored on a passed ball, and Davis Goldberg knocked in Marinero. 

With two outs, the Cubs tied the game on a wild pitch as Matthew Wagner scored the tying run.

In extra innings the Astros nearly took the lead on an attempted steal of home, but the Cubbie defense caught Anthony Daye at the plate. In their half of the inning, the Cubs scored on their own passed ball to walk it off. They now advance to the semifinal.

Brewers 7, Royals 11  

In this elimination game, the Royals’ consistent offense proved too much for the Brewers. Brewer standout Dylan Schott started the game getting on base on a hard ground ball to third. He advanced to third on wild pitches and later scored on a groundout by Burton Bowen.

Then the Royals offense came alive.

They scratched two across in the first inning thanks to singles by KJ Hirakawa and Kade Kendrick. In the second, Brooks Kubert, Hunter Jones, Hirakawa, Kendrick, and Henry Garvey all hit to extend the lead to 6-1 in the second.

The Royals added four more in the third. Down 11-2 in the fifth, the Brewers found life of their own. Schott, Walter Mangum, Owen Heiser, and Grant Harris all collected base hits to cut the Royal lead to 11-7.

In the sixth, however, the Royals brought in ace pitcher Kade Kendrick to shut the door. He struck out two, walked one, and induced a game-ending groundout.

A special thanks to the Brewer coaching staff of Ryan Mangum, Mat Manusharow, and Stephen Heiser for their time and dedication this season. Â