2011 Ocean View Little League, SoCal’s Last World Champion
- Updated: June 30, 2021
(Ocean View Little League of Huntington Beach celebrates after winning the 2011 Little League World Series in South Williamsport, PA. Photo courtesy of AP/Tom E. Puskar.)
This year marks the 10th anniversary of one of this sports blogger’s favorite teams. I am referring to the 2011 Ocean View Little League of Huntington Beach all-stars. That group of youngsters remains the most recent Southern California representative to win the Little League World Series. This article shall recount memories of that wonderful 2011 champion. Let’s do this.
For me, the story of the 2011 world champs started at the West Region tournament held in San Bernardino. There, Southern California’s team blasted its way into the tourney’s championship. Along the way, SoCal’s games turned out to be lopsided. Ocean View ran up the scores each time. Those incredible all-stars even achieved three shutouts. One of those three got recorded after only four innings, due to the 10-run rule. The Huntington Beach boys won that one, 10-0.
2011 champions.
However, the one-game, winner-take-all finale turned into a nail-biter. In that title match, SoCal trailed a team from Northern California, 1-0, headed into the final inning. Down to its last three outs, Ocean View batted in the top of the sixth. Nick Pratto led off by belting a clutch triple. And then, it happened. Steven Kotkosky immediately smacked a two-run homer to dead centerfield to put Southern California ahead, 2-1. Hagen Danner retired the side in the bottom of the inning to preserve the narrow victory. SoCal was on its way to Williamsport! Watch this highlight clip:
(Southern California wins the 2011 Little League West Region. Footage courtesy of ESPN.)
Incidentally, those three team leaders created headlines in recent years. Pratto and Danner currently play in Minor League Baseball. Pratto competes in the Kansas City Royals’ organization, while Danner pitches for a Toronto Blue Jays affiliate. Kotkosky starred on Santa Ana’s Mater Dei High School Monarchs. In any event, that title game turned out to be the closest contest SoCal would face for a while. At the Little League World Series, Ocean View went on a rampage. The Huntington Beach team opened with a decisive 11-0 thrashing over a team from Rhode Island. Two days later, SoCal quickly disposed of a team representing Kentucky. As, in less than 90 minutes, Ocean View’s boys walked off with yet another four-inning, 10-0 victory. Amazing! After two games in S. Williamsport, Southern California outscored its opponents, 21-0.
Blowouts.
At that point, Northern California still served as Southern California’s most formidable foe. I recall thinking that NorCal deserved to compete in Williamsport more so than did anyone else other than SoCal. In fact, even teams that Ocean View faced earlier that summer arguably provided stiffer competition. Park View Little League of Chula Vista and Aliso Viejo Little League of Aliso Viejo come to mind. Each of them lost by an identical, 5-4, score to Ocean View. Rancho Mission Viejo Little League of Mission Viejo perhaps put up the strongest fight. That team faced Ocean View three times. All three were close. Ocean View won twice. One of those wins came by one run, and the other by two runs. Mission Viejo’s own one-run victory happened in extra innings.
(Northwest celebrates after qualifying for 2011’s U.S. title game. Photo courtesy of AP.)
Mission Viejo in my opinion deserved to play in Pennsylvania more so than did teams from outside of California. Except for one. Montana’s team. That group of youngsters knew how to play. And, that showed in San Bernardino. Yes, San Bernardino. You see, Albert E. Houghton Stadium served as host to two regions simultaneously. The West Region, and the Northwest Region. Montana won the Northwest. Its players lived with, and reportedly became friends with, the Ocean View team. Together, those two squads ripped through the rest of the country. Eventually, the two collided. That happened on national television. The winner would qualify for the United States championship game. The loser would need to win one more time to qualify.
Epic showdown.
Southern California and Montana squared off in an epic battle. What I did not appreciate that night was that a broadcaster outright cheered for Montana. He lived in Montana. He should have recused himself. It remains a joke that Little League officials require CaliSports News writers to act impartial. We are prohibited from cheering for SoCal’s teams playing at Houghton Stadium. But yet, ESPN broadcasts that network’s blatant biases to the entire country. Thus, CSN which only services California audiences should likewise be allowed to cheer for our teams. Whatever.
(SoCal’s Dylan Palmer after homering in 2011 U.S. title game. Photo courtesy of AP.)
In any case, Southern California and Montana provided an amazing pitchers’ duel. Their contest remained scoreless after six innings. Crazy! Finally, in extra innings, Montana squeaked out a 1-0 victory. The loss put Ocean View’s back against a wall. Do-or-die. Then, the Huntington Beach squad delivered in the clutch. Behind an incredible performance from Danner, Southern California beat a team from Pennsylvania, 2-0. Danner pitched a three-hitter, issued no walks, and struck out 12 batters. The future Blue Jay also smacked a key home run. That win was even more impressive when considering its location. South Williamsport resides less than 40 miles from where that state’s team played. As such, tons of that league’s supporters attended the contest against SoCal. They packed the stadium. They created a very partisan home crowd.
Revenge is sweet.
Then, Ocean View faced Montana again. This time in a one-game battle for the U.S. crown. SoCal came up huge. It racked up a one-sided 11-2 victory that sent Northwest back to Montana, and left ESPN crying. Huntington Beach left no doubt who belonged in the finals to face Japan.
That game against Japan’s team turned into a classic. Its score remained tied, 1-1, going into the bottom of the sixth inning. Southern California batted last. With bases loaded and two outs, Pratto stepped to the plate. Pressure time. Either he wins the game, or he gets out, and we move to extra innings. Either way, Pratto would serve as the final batter of the sixth. Then, the future Royal showed why he deserved to be drafted by the big leagues. He smacked a base hit, the runner at third base scored, and United States’ team started celebrating. Watch the replay:
(Southern California wins 2011’s Little League World Series. Footage courtesy of ESPN.)
That concludes our excursion down memory lane. I hope readers enjoyed it. Here is hoping SoCal once again wins the Little League World Series. Will that happen this year? Stay tuned !!
Teamwork makes the dream work.
CaliSports News thanks everyone that shares our articles. Teamwork makes the dream work. On that note, CSN thanks California District 42 for sharing my prior article, Reasons Why I Follow Little League Baseball Part Two, on social media. District 42 reigns as Southern California’s current two-time defending champion. That highly-competitive district starts its tournament action tomorrow (Thu., Jul. 1). CaliSports News plans to provide updates. Until then, Let’s Go SoCal!!
Stay with CaliSportsNews.com, Southern California’s undisputed leader in Little League coverage, as we keep you up-to-date on all things SoCal sports! All Cali, All the time!
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