It
’s never easy battling back through the loser’s bracket of any
tournament, let alone an all-star tourney. But after losing its
tournament opener, the Morgan Hill Pinto American A all-star team
is one win away from doing just that. On Thursday, the American A
team beat San Jose Pacific No. 1 4-1,
its third straight victory in loser’s bracket play.
It’s never easy battling back through the loser’s bracket of any tournament, let alone an all-star tourney.
But after losing its tournament opener, the Morgan Hill Pinto American A all-star team is one win away from doing just that.
On Thursday, the American A team beat San Jose Pacific No. 1 4-1, its third straight victory in loser’s bracket play.
With the win, American A advances to play San Jose PAL at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The winner of that game would advance to play in the championship bracket at noon on Saturday, and is also assured of advancing to the regional tournament.
In Thursday’s win, the local American A squad scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to erase a 1-0 SJ Pacific lead and never looked back.
Kyle Quadros had an RBI double and Blake Porzio added a two-run double in the inning.
Mitch Hickey started and earned the win on the mound, combining with Quadros to shut down the SJ attack.
American A added a single run, scored by Sean Aitken, in the fourth inning.
Earlier in the week, the American A team rode a four-run third inning to a 7-4 victory over the local National A squad on Tuesday.
In that game, Kai Paresa slammed a two-run double to tie the game at 2-2 after the National A squad had taken an early lead. Then, Paresa scored the go-ahead run later in the inning and the American A team never looked back.
Quadros picked up the win, going three innings and allowing a pair of runs. Ben Hughes, Mike Porras and Hickey finished up the game on the mound, with Hickey striking out the final batter to pick up the save.
Taylor Turnipseed had a double for the National A squad, which was eliminated from the tournament with the loss.
Meanwhile, earlier in the week, the local National B team outlasted the local American B team 8-6 in Pinto Sectional Tournament action at El Camino Field in Santa Clara on Sunday.
In the National B squad’s victory, Mark Quinby pitched three strong innings with eight strikeouts, and added a double and a single at the plate. Teammate Patrick Muller also had two hits.
Both teams lost their tourney openers, so the National B squad advanced in the loser’s bracket while the American B team was eliminated.
In other all-star action, the MH Pony-13 all-star team suffered its first loss of the Sectional Tournament at Lou Vierra Field in Santa Clara on Wednesday, falling 10-7 to Los Altos/Mountain View.
The Pony-13 squad was scheduled to play either Blossom Valley or Santa Clara in a loser’s bracket game at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
