They
’re the third, and final, Morgan Hill Pony Baseball team to
advance to a West Zone Tournament this summer, but they may also be
the team with the best chance to actually win a Zone
championship.
They’re the third, and final, Morgan Hill Pony Baseball team to advance to a West Zone Tournament this summer, but they may also be the team with the best chance to actually win a Zone championship.
After winning the North Regional title with an 11-4 victory over Santa Clara at Rosita Field in Los Altos on Tuesday, the MH Pony all-stars are clearly on a roll heading into this weekend’s West Zone opener.
MH plays its West Zone tourney opener on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Amerige Park in Fullerton.
Not only have the local all-stars rolled through both the Sectional and Regional tourneys undefeated at 7-0 overall but have outscored the opposition 83-15 in those seven games.
This is also the third straight trip to the West Zone tourney for many of the current Pony all-stars, a feat never before accomplished by a MHPB team.
Two years ago, they played on the MH Bronco all-star team that finished fourth overall in the West Zone in Whittier, Calif.
Last year, as Pony 13 all-stars, they finished fifth at the Zone tourney.
Already this year, the MH Bronco all-stars and the MH Colt Athletics have advanced to the West Zone tourneys in their respective age divisions.
In Tuesday’s game, as the visitors, Morgan Hill put the game away early, exploding for six runs in the top of the first inning. Billy Hill led off the game with a single, Kevin Grove lined the next pitch to the fence for a double, and Ryan Evanger’s single scored both runners.
After Adam Perez reached base, Matt Cummins had the first of three doubles, driving in two more runs. Christian Lam (3-for-5) and Jacob Dexter both also had RBI singles in the inning, which saw the team bat around the lineup.
Starting pitcher Evanger held the powerful Santa Clara lineup in check, meanwhile, shutting them out over his first four innings, with three strikeouts, and just one hit.
In the top of the fourth inning, with two out, Perez doubled to the right-center gap and scored on Cummins’ double.
After another base hit from Lam, and Jonathan Hughes reaching base on a hit-by-pitch, Dexter just missed a grand slam as the centerfielder snared the drive on the warning track.
In the top of the fifth inning, Morgan Hill made the game 10-0, as Hill had a one-out single and scored on Grove’s second double of the game.
Perez was walked, and Cummins just missed a home run, as the ball hit off the top of the fence, driving in both runners.
Evanger yielded two runs in the bottom of the inning, with a strikeout to end his five innings of work.
Vince Hatakeyama came in to pitch the sixth inning and did well, recording three groundball outs.
Morgan Hill added an insurance run in the seventh inning, as Evanger drew a walk and would eventually score on an error.
Closer James Johnson came in to retire the side in the bottom of the seventh, the last two on strikeouts.
