The highly touted Morgan Hill PONY baseball Bronco
”
A
”
Team rolled through pool play undefeated and played for the
large trophy on the Memorial day holiday on Monday. The round-robin
tournament schedule had Morgan Hill playing the Friday night game
against Burlingame
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B.
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J.P. Howard was slated to start and went three innings, giving
up just one run, which would be the only one surrendered in a game
that was cut off at five innings, due to the 10-run
“mercy” rule. Mike Singleton closed out the game with two
shutout innings in a 25 – 1 victory. Morgan Hill hit seven home
runs on the evening with Nick Rameriaz, Mike Singleton, and Ryan
Williams getting two a piece and Matt Carroll one of his own.
The highly touted Morgan Hill PONY baseball Bronco “A” Team rolled through pool play undefeated and played for the large trophy on the Memorial day holiday on Monday. The round-robin tournament schedule had Morgan Hill playing the Friday night game against Burlingame “B.” J.P. Howard was slated to start and went three innings, giving up just one run, which would be the only one surrendered in a game that was cut off at five innings, due to the 10-run “mercy” rule. Mike Singleton closed out the game with two shutout innings in a 25 – 1 victory. Morgan Hill hit seven home runs on the evening with Nick Rameriaz, Mike Singleton, and Ryan Williams getting two a piece and Matt Carroll one of his own.
Saturday’s second game featured MH taking on the team from Seaside. Kenny Hall held the Monterey-based club scoreless through three and Chris Bradley shut the door with two scoreless innings of his own in an 11-0 rout. Lefty Chris Bradley hit a towering solo homer and Matt Carroll had another one to the short porch in right field. The game ended when Seaside batted out of order for the third out in the fifth inning, setting up another 10-run rule victory for the Green & Gold. The Seaside coach was ejected in the melee following the proper rule interpretation.
Sunday’s contest showed the local team’s grit and determination as the host Santa Clara “A” squad took early leads of 2-0 and 3-2. But Morgan Hill battled back and broke the game open in the fourth with a barrage of singles, playing station-to-station ball as the team batted around the order, scoring seven runs in the 14-3 victory. Brian Bradley went 3-for-4 and scored three runs while playing a flawless second base all series. Nick Hagiperos caught the bulk of the pool play, throwing out two runners at second. Nick Rameriaz pitched four innings, giving up only one run. Greg Hamik ended the game with a two-run,walk-off home run with J.P.Howard on base.
Going 3-0 in pool play, Morgan Hill had to wait to play the winner of Monday’s Los Gatos vs. Burlingame “A” game on Memorial Day for first place. Los Gatos won and had the back-to-back game on Monday against Morgan Hill. Having played the previous game, Los Gatos came out loose and tuned for a possible upset. Morgan Hill came with ace pitcher Matt Carroll, who threw five hard innings. The Los Gatos bats were hot, its defense made every play through four innings, and the opponents held a commanding 5-0 lead after 4 1/2 innings were in the books.
But Morgan Hill’s Greg Hamik led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run to spark the comeback rally and get the Morgan Hill faithful on their feet. Many MHPB regulars were also on hand to witness the great championship ballgame. In a clever move by manager Ken Bradley, Raul Bueno was called on to pinch hit for Nick Hagiperos and singled. Hagiperos was then re-entered, and stole second base and third base. In a clutch at-bat, Tim Andrade singled home Hagiperos and the tide of the game had turned.
Chris Bradley came in to close out the now 5-2 game and Los Gatos was feeling the pressure. Making short work of Los Gatos in the top of the sixth, Morgan Hill was back the in box. Down by three runs with six outs left, Morgan Hill mounted its comeback rally. Ryan Williams singled but was forced out at second when Nick Rameriaz reached on a fielder’s choice. Matt Carroll walked and was replaced by pinch runner Kenny Hall. With two on and two out, Greg Hamik stepped to the plate. With a 1-and-2 count, Hamik fouled off four consecutive curve balls before the Los Gatos hurler made a mistake, a fastball. Hamik launched the gift over the centerfield fence for a three-run jack to tie the game at 5-5.
With extra frames a possibility, Los Gatos loaded the bases in the top of the seventh but couldn’t put one across the plate. Needing only one run to end the game, Tim Andrade walked to lead off the bottom of the seventh. With one out and one on, Brian Bradley faked a bunt and then pulled back and swung away. The crashing Los Gatos third basemen took a bruising shot off the shin and Morgan Hill had the winning run at second base. Ryan Williams wasted no time in delivering, hitting the next pitch for a game-winning RBI single and a 6-5 victory.
In the four tourney games, Morgan Hill commited just two errors and scored 56 runs to its opponents’ nine runs, while hitting 11 home runs. This group of 12-year-olds should be a force in the National PONY baseball tournament at year’s end.
