July 30, 2017 Compton, CA The Orange County Riptide defeated the Healdsburg Prune Packers in the winner-take-all final game of the California Collegiate League Playoffs today at the MLB Youth Academy to claim their first CCL championship. The Riptide entered the final day of the double-elimination playoffs as the undefeated team and, thus, had the advantage of needing to win only one of two possible games against the Packers, whom they defeated yesterday 7-1, while Healdsburg would need to win both games today. And, after Healdsburg won the first game today 4-3, the second game became a true winner-take-all championship game that the Riptide won 5-3. Jordan Dosey (Virginia) pitched five scoreless innings, Beau Phillip (San Joaquin JC) had three hits and scored the first two Orange County runs, and RBI-doubles by Dominic Fletcher (Arkansas) and Jake Pulcheon (Houston Baptist) led the Riptide to the championship. Given a one-run lead after Phillip singled and scored from first on Fletcher’s double in the top of the first inning, Dosey retired the first seven batters he faced, including erasing a walk with a double-play in the second, before facing his first real test in the third inning. With one out in the third, Clay Koelzer (Texas Tech) singled and advanced into scoring position when the next batter was hit by a pitch. A two-out walk loaded the bases for Healdsburg but Dosey got a flyball out to strand all three runners. Then, in the fourth inning when Healdsburg loaded the bases again with one out on a walk and two singles, Dosey escaped damage again even though Koelzer hit a pop fly into the sundrenched outfield that fell to the turf, because right fielder Joey Parente (Lewis & Clark) quickly picked up the ball he lost in the sun and threw home to beat the runner from third for the second out, and Dosey induced a ground out for the third. Orange County increased its lead whenPhillip doubled and scored on a passed ball in the fifth inning, Logan Pouelsen (Hawaii) doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tate Shaw (Texas) in the sixth, Fletcher, who hit a single to lead off the eighth, scored from first on Pulcheon’s double and Pulcheon scored two outs later on a single by Shaw to make the score 5-0. Healdsburg got within striking distance in the bottom half of the eighth inning when Cole Brodnansky (Santa Rosa JC) led off with a single, Cameron Warren (Texas Tech) doubled and Dane Tofteland (Indiana St) hit a three-run home run to make the score 5-3, but Braxton Smith (Louisiana Tech), who entered the game to pitch for the Riptide in the sixth inning, and Caleb Kilian (Texas Tech), who pitched the ninth, closed out the game by retiring the last five batters in order, three via strikeouts, and Orange County claimed the 2017 CCL Championship. Click here for the Championship Game boxscore Alec Rennard (Michigan) struck out nine over seven innings, Grant Little (Texas Tech) and Jamey Smart (LMU) had run-scoring hits in a three-run seventh inning to overtake a 3-1 deficit, and Jared Noonan stranded a runner in each of the last two innings to lead Healdsburg to a 4-3 win in the first win-or-go home early game today. While Orange County jumped out to an early lead after a two-out RBI-single by Paul Gomez followed by a run-scoring double by Parente scored two in the second inning, Rennard retired the next ten batters in order, five via strikeouts, before giving up a solo home run by Fletcher and a double to Pulcheon to lead off the sixth inning, and then retired the next six batters, one on the bases as part of a double-play to keep the score close. The Healdsburg offense had the makings of rally in the fifth inning when Tofteland reached on a leadoff walk, advanced to third on a single by Brodnansky and scored on a single by Esteban Martinez (San Jose St), but Parker Joe Robinson (Texas), who had not allowed a run in 16-plus innings this summer, came into pitch in relief of starter Ricky Reynoso (Pacific) with runners on first and second and nobody out and, despite giving up a one-out single to Bryce Nagata (Sonoma St) to load the bases, fielded a broken-bat grounder and threw to the plate to start a 1-2-3 double-play that squelched the rally and kept his summer scoreless summer intact. With one out in the seventh inning, however, the Healdsburg rally came to fruition. Martinez singled, Landon Etzel (Houston) drew a walk and, after a Nagata ground out advanced the runners to second and third, Little hit a two-out RBI-infield single that generated a second run when the attempted throw to try a beat him to first sailed past the first baseman and allowed Etzel to score the tying run and Little to get into scoring position. Smart then drove a double to the wall to score Little with the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run. Rennard got a 6-4-3 double-play to erase a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh inning before turning the ball over to Noonan, who got the final six outs, two on strikeouts to give Healdsburg the win and the winner-take-all matchup that followed. Click here for the boxscore of the first championship game Fletcher, who had two hits in each of the four Orange County playoff games, including a home run, and drove in three runs, was named the most valuable player of the playoffs. 2017 California Collegiate League All-Tournament Team MVP: Dominic Fletcher, CF (Arkansas) Orange County Chase Gardner, LHP (UConn), Healdsburg Juan Cortina, RHP (St. Edwards), Orange County Alec Rennard, RHP (Michigan), Healdsburg Brandon Lewis, OF (LA Pierce College), Conejo Logan Pouelsen, 3B (Hawaii), Orange County Beau Phillip, SS (San Joaquin JC), Orange County Grant Little, SS (Texas Tech), Healdsburg Jamey Smart, LF, (Loyola Marymount), Healdsburg Tate Shaw, RF (Texas), Orange County Go to the CCL Playoffs Info Center for the complete playoffs schedule and details about how to watch replays of all the playoff games online.