Written by Ronnie Flores 

Long Beach, Calif. -- There was a combination of good, great and not so good play on Wednesday at the 2008 Area Code Games. Some teams were dealt a good hand while others had to pick for the winning combination. Read below for game recaps. Note: Player in photo taken last spring is Mark Appel (Monte Vista, Danville, Calif.)

Texas Rangers 6, Washington Nationals 4
              
Unlike Tuesday night's pitching gem, the action on Wednesday morning started off with fireworks. The batters were ahead of the pitchers for a change, as both teams scored in the first inning.  

The Nationals' Max Walla (Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque, N.M.) opened things off with a single where he took second base after the right fielder hesitated on the throw back to the infield. James Robbins (Shorecrest, Shoreline, Wash.) then drove in Walla with a triple.

In the bottom of the first, the Rangers came right back and loaded the bases with one out. An error by second baseman Ryan Barnes (West Linn, Ore.) right by the bag on a potential double play allowed the extra base runners. The Rangers, however, could only muster up a sacrifice fly by Cohl Walla (Lake Travis, Austin, Texas) that scored Randal Grichuk (Lamar Consolidated, Rosenburg, Texas), as the score was tied 1-1 entering the second inning.

The Rangers then opened up a lead in the bottom of the third inning as Walla came through again with a quality at-bat. This time he came through with a two-run double, a rope to left centerfield that scored Logan Vick (Tivy, Kerrville, Texas) and Chad Kettler (Coppell, Texas). Walla then scored himself on a triple by Cody Robinson (Lamar Consolidated, Sugar Land, Texas) as the Rangers led 4-1.              

Righty Chase McDowell (A&M Consolidated, College Station, Texas) was in line for the win after the Rangers' three-run inning, but the Nationals quickly tied up the game as he struggled to find the strike zone. Brian Wolfe (Snohomish, Wash.) singled to start the rally and eventually scored after McDowell gave up three consecutive walks. Zach Aaker (Tahoma, Ravensdale, Wash.) then scored as Barnes hustled up the line and beat out a potential double play grounder. Barnes' hustle paid dividends as Cody Scott (O'Connor, Helotes, Texas) then scored off a sacrifice grounder to tie up the game going into the bottom of the fourth inning.

The Rangers kept their hot bats alive in the bottom half of the inning, as Jake Miller (Stratford, Houston, Texas) scored on a sacrifice fly by Grichuk. Vick then belted a triple off the rightfield wall and came around to score on a grounder that gave the Texas club a 6-4 lead. After his shaky fourth, McDowell settled down and threw two scoreless frames to pick up the win.

Shelby Miller (Brownwood, Texas), a righty, picked up the save as he held the Nationals scoreless over the final three frames. McDowell and Miller were aided at the plate by Walla, who drove in three runs and Grichuk, who scored twice.     
      
Milwaukee Brewers Blue 3, Oakland Athletics 0

Entering Wednesday's noon game, everybody in attendance at Blair Field knew the Brewers Blue club yielded heavy lumber. So it wasn't a surprise that they drew first blood.

Designated hitter John Altobelli (Woodbridge, Irvine, Calif.) led off the game with a single. Outfielder Jake Marisnick (Poly, Riverside, Calif.) was up next and drove in the leadoff hitter with a triple to the gap in left centerfield. With one out, Cameron Garfield (Murrieta Valley, Murrieta, Calif.) lined a single to right to score Marisnick as the Brewers were quickly in business.            

The Blue club (a team with a heavy Southern California contingent) gave southpaw pitcher Tyler Skaggs (Santa Monica, Calif.) more cushon in the second inning as Matt Moynihan (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego, Calif.) scored on a sacrifice fly by Jeff Gelalich (Bonita, La Verne, Calif.). Skaggs did his job on the mound, as he hurled two innings and faced only one batter over the minimum.

The Brewers' second pitcher, righty Kurt Heyer (Edison, Huntington Beach, Calif.), also impressed as he threw two scoreless innings. David Armendariz (Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks, Calif.), also a righty, came in and threw a scoreless fifth for the Brewers.    
         
In the top of the sixth of a seven-inning affair, it looked like the Oakland A's (made of primarily of players from the Southeast region of the country) would put something together when Nicholas Lockwood (Tampa Jesuit, Tampa, Fla.) got on board with a single. He then advanced to third on a throwing error with one out. The Brewers Blue worked out of the jam, however, as Lockwood was nearly picked off on a screamer down the line. He got back on the bag just in time, but the inning ended on a cleanly fielded grounder.    

Lockwood was the only Oakland A's base runner to reach third base, as the Milwaukee Brewers Blue pitchers allowed three scattered hits over seven innings. Garfield, a catcher, ended an A's mini-rally in the top of the third when he threw out a would-be base stealer at second base to end the inning.  

Skaggs was credited with the win and Evan Brock (Ayala, Chino Hills, Calif.) picked up the save for the Blue club. In the top of the seventh, Brock retired the side on a strikeout and two soft grounders.        
 
The Brewers actually scored three runs in the bottom half of the seventh, but those runs were not part of the official box as the home team is allowed to take its hacks in the bottom half of the final inning even if it had already won the game. After all, the Area Code Games are designed to showcase the players and a combination of solid hitters, pitchers and fielders highlighted this contest.        

New York Yankees 8, Milwaukee Brewers Gray 3  

In the final contest on Wednesday evening, the Milwaukee Brewers were trying to win their second game of the day. The Yankees had other plans, however, as they used some timely hitting and poor Milwaukee fielding to win the game.   

Starting pitcher Mark Appel (Monta Vista, Danville, Calif.) retired the side in the first inning for Milwaukee, but ran into some trouble in the second frame. Patrick Stover (Rocklin, Calif.) got on by an infield single, but he was promptly caught stealing by Brewers Gray catcher Geno Escalante (Rodriguez, Fairfield, Calif.).

The Bronx Bombers still manufactured a run as Appel loaded the bases with two outs courtesy of a base on balls to Mike Yastrzemski (St. John's Prep, Andover, Mass.). Regan Flaherty (Deering, Portland, Maine) was the next batter and he came up with a single that scored Shane Rowland (Tampa Catholic, Tampa, Fla.), but Brewers Gray leftfielder Joe Lewis (Pittsburg, Calif.) threw out Stephen Bruno (Gloucester Catholic, Audubon, N.J.) at home trying to score the second run.

The Brewers Gray got a gift run in the bottom of the second inning when Yastrzemski, the grandson of Major League Baseball's last Triple Crown winner Carl Yastrzemski, lost a high Danny Hayes (Jesuit, Carmichael, Calif.) popup in the sun that allowed Escalante to score from third base.

The run that Lewis saved with his outfield assist, the Yankees (made up primarily of players from the Northeast United States) got it right back in the top of the third inning. Mike Trout (Millville, N.J.) scored on a single to rightfield by Jake Mayers (Hanover, Mechanicsville, Va.) where he barely beat the throw. Escalante then prevented any further damage when he gunned down Marcus Stroman (Patchogue, Medford, N.Y.) leading off from third base with the sacs full. Escalante's play saved a run because the Yankees' Stetson Allie (St. Edward, Lakewood, Ohio) walked on the next pitch.

Escalante's fine defensive play was offset by a poor one in the next inning that cost the Brewers three runs after standing two runners of their own in the bottom of the third. With two outs and the bases loaded, an errant throw by the third baseman that the Brewers Gray first baseman could not cleanly field allowed the Yankees' Rowland and Yastrzemski to score. Trout then hit a bloop single that scored Tony Italiano (St. Anthony's, West Sayville, N.Y.) to make the score 5-1 heading into the fourth inning.

The Brewers Gray couldn't get anything on the board in the bottom of the fourth and the wheels started to fall off in top of the fifth. Milwaukee hurler Nicholas Berhel (De La Salle, Concord, Calif.) loaded the bases with one out by giving up a walk to Nelfi Zapata (Boston English, Dorchester, Mass.). Things got worse when Berhel beaned Jimmy Brennan (Suffern, N.Y.) in the back to walk in a run. The next batter, Christian Walker (Kennedy-Kenrick, Limerick, Pa.), then stroked a single up the middle to score two more runs and make the score 8-1.                                          

The Brewers Gray (a team which consists of prospects from both Northern and Southern California) chipped away at the deficit with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, highlighted by a run scoring double by Mitchell Haniger (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose, Calif.) that ricocheted off the top of the left field wall. The Brewers Gray could get no closer, however, as they went quietly in the bottom of the seventh. Mayers finished the game by retiring the side on a flyout, groundout and popup. Kyle Hansen (St. Dominick, Glen Cove, N.Y.) was credited with the win for the New York Yankees.

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