Luke Dykstra, Turner Larkins off to a strong start in the 2013 edition of this baseball event.
Luke Dykstra of Westlake High smacked a triple in an Area Code Games contest earlier this week.
File photo by Vince Pugliese
The Area Code Games opened Monday with the Athletics and the White Sox getting off to strong starts during the first three days of action at Blair Field in Long Beach, Calif..
The Athletics, with players based out of Northern California, came from behind to defeat the Royals 4-3. The Athletics received strong pitching from
Luis Ortiz of
Sanger (Calif.) with two hitless innings.
Jacob Gatewood of
Clovis (Calif.), meanwhile, had an RBI groundout.
The Brewers, made up of players from Southern California, downed the Royals 10-2.
Luke Dykstra of
Westlake (Westlake Village, Calif.) had a triple for the game's best hit while
DJ Peters of
Glendora (Calif.) added a two-run double.
The Athletics continued to win on Tuesday, beating the Reds 3-1.
Shea Sbranti of
Freedom (Oakley, Calif.) and
Matt McLaughlin of
Leland (San Jose, Calif.) each had RBI singles for the A's, who overcame a strong pitching performance from
Alex Verdugo of
Sahuaro (Tucson, Ariz.), who allowed one hit in his stint on the mound.
The Reds, with players from the Four Corners states, edged the Texas-based Rangers 5-4 in the other game on Monday. Verdugo had the big hit of the game with a two-run triple.
Payton Squier of
Greenway (Phoenix) also had an RBI as did
Jeddediah Fagg of
Williams Field (Gilbert, Ariz.).
Allan Beer, Jenks
File photo by Alyson Boyer Rode
of
Martin (Arlington, Texas) pitched well in defeat for the Rangers, striking out five batters in three innings while giving up one hit.
The Rangers also fell to the Nationals on Tuesday, 7-5.
Handsome Monica of
St. Paul (Covington, La.) and
Jeremy Vasquez of
Martin County (Stuart, Fla.) each had an RBI single to help the Nationals rally from a 2-0 deficit.
Cole Kreuter of
Westminster Christian (Miami) added a double for the Nationals to secure the win.
The White Sox, based out of the midwest, opened the tournament with a 5-2 win over the northeast-based Yankees.
Allan Beer of
Jenks (Okla.) and
Darius Day of
Simeon (Chicago) each had RBI singles for the White Sox.
The White Sox continued to play well in a 5-3 win over the Brewers on Wednesday.
Jakson Reetz of
Norris (Firth, Neb.) had an RBI single to help break a tie game in the sixth.
The Rangers also got their first win and kept the Royals winless at 0-3 with a 4-0 win on Wednesday.
Stone Garrett of
George Ranch (Richmond, Texas) had a two-run double to pace the offense.
The Yankees got their first win on Wednesday as well, defeating the Nationals 3-1.
Christian Donahue of
'Iolani (Honolulu) had a triple, but
Blake Wiggins of
Pulaski Academy (Little Rock, Ark.) had the game's best hit with a home run.
Games continue today with the Nationals looking for their first win against the undefeated White Sox at 8:30 a.m., followed by the Royals and Yankees at 11:30 a.m., the Reds and Nationals at 2:30 p.m. and the Brewers and Athletics at 5:30 p.m.
