Local All-Stars drop regional opener 8-4 to Marina; highlights
from Bronco sectional
SAN JOSE — One game into Regionals, life was much different for the Morgan Hill Mustang All-Stars.
After handily winning its host section tournament amid the friendly confines of Britton Middle School, the local team of 10-year-olds was welcomed to next level Tuesday with a humbling 8-4 loss to Marina.
Morgan Hill held a two-run midway through the third inning in PAL Stadium but struggled for balance against Marina’s pitchers and the dreaded curveball, an outlawed pitch in Morgan Hill Pony Baseball.
“It’s difficult when you don’t see them all season long,” Morgan Hill manager Dave Knopf said. “They threw a lot of (curveballs) at us. We hit the ball at times. We just couldn’t get many base hits.”
Chris Turner and Graham Grisedale had RBI-base hits, and Christopher Knopf and Jared Jones scored for Morgan Hill.
Ethan Crawford drove in Turner in the third inning to make it 3-1, but Marina answered with three runs in the bottom half and four more an inning later. Turner scored his second run in the fifth inning for the game’s final run.
“They were excited, and they played really well,” Knopf said. “I have no complaints at all with the way they handled themselves. They were a little nervous being in a new tournament and on a big ball field, but they were fired up. They were ready to go.”
And just like that, Morgan Hill’s season was on the brink heading into today’s elimination game against tournament-host San Jose PAL. The two teams met months ago in club play, but Knopf knows enough about San Jose PAL regardless.
“They’re in Regionals, so they’re a good-hitting ball club that’s fundamentally sound,” he said. “Every team is that way from here on out. Every game’s going to be exciting.”
BRONCO
Morgan Hill’s All-Star team of 12-year-olds made improvements while finishing 1-2 in a hotly competitive Blossom Valley Sectional at Herman Middle School.
“We played extremely well in two of our three games,” Morgan Hill manager Albert Valcarcel said Thursday. “The other game was against the best team in the (eight-team) tournament, Blossom Valley. They beat us up pretty good.”
Morgan Hill won its opener 2-1 over Fremont behind an outstanding effort from pitcher Brandon Kubo-gamelle, who struck out four and did not yield an earned run. Logan Weislak picked him up with a 2-for-2 effort at the plate, and right fielder Spencer Vrada made a run-saving catch in full extension during the sixth inning.
“If Spencer doesn’t make that catch, the game is different — the tournament is different,” Valcarcel said.
Morgan Hill was eliminated Tuesday with a 10-4 loss to Los Altos/Mountain View but still produced several highlights. First baseman Marcus Valcarcel and Vrada made key catches and stops to keep the game in reach, and Kevin Onyejekwe stole home.
“We had some awesome defense in this tournament,” Albert Valcarcel said. “This was something to build off of.”
