Locals squander lead late in elimination sectional
CAMPBELL — A return trip to the international stage was not in the cards for Morgan Hill’s Pony 13 All-Stars.
The group that advanced to the Bronco World Series a year ago was eliminated in regional play Sunday with a gut-wrenching 5-4 loss to Campbell. Morgan Hill led for most of the game at JD Morgan Park behind a stellar 6 1-3 innings pitched by Mike Porras. But the tournament hosts rallied for five runs in the seventh to lead 5-2, then held off a late charge to stay alive in the eight-team double-elimination regional.
Morgan Hill, which won the Santa Clara Section title a week ago, ended the postseason with six wins and three losses.
“Something just wasn’t there this time,” coach Mike Zanotto said. “It was really hard to watch when you know your team is better, and you still have a hard time winning games. It’s a tough way to go out.”
Morgan Hill succumbed to the same uncharacteristic mental lapses that plagued the team in its previous two losses. The Thrill suffered an early defeat to Santa Clara at Sectionals but bounced back to win three straight, including a two-game sweep of Santa Clara in the championship round. Morgan Hill went through a similar experience at Regionals, dropping an error-riddled opener 7-5 to Santa Cruz only to soundly beat San Bruno 5-2 Saturday.
The magic ended there.
“It’s disappointing because we feel like we would have won this tournament if we played our best and did all the little things right,” Zanotto said. “The other teams treated us like the team to look out for.”
A day after Ben Hughes struck out seven in a complete game against San Bruno, Porras delivered an equally impressive outing against Campbell. He was cushioned with a 2-0 lead after Ben Hughes singled home Mark Quinby, who doubled, and Quinby singled in pinch-runner Domenic Zanotto following a single by Cole Campi.
Everything fell apart in the seventh, starting with a botched squeeze bunt that Campbell scored on because of a passed ball.
Suddenly trailing 5-2, Morgan Hill made the most of its final offensive. Quinby nearly tied it when, with Jesse Osuna at third and Domenic Zanotto at first, he hit a deep drive that the left fielder bobbled at the warning track. Hughes’ bases-loaded single made it 5-3, and Porras followed with an RBI groundout for the Thrill’s final run. With men at second and third and two outs, Alejandro Torres hit a low fly ball that was caught in left to end the game.
Saturday, Morgan Hill got past San Bruno in a must-win game that was scoreless until the sixth inning when the Thrill plated four runs. Quinby and Hughes had RBIs.
Thursday’s loss featured a big game by Morgan Hill’s Patrick Muller, who had a solo home run and doubled.
