They
’ll get another shot after all. After capturing a Northern
California Regional tournament title last weekend, the Morgan Hill
Pony 13s all-star squad is headed back to the West Zones and
another shot at a highly coveted berth in the Pony Baseball World
Series.
They’ll get another shot after all.
After capturing a Northern California Regional tournament title last weekend, the Morgan Hill Pony 13s all-star squad is headed back to the West Zones and another shot at a highly coveted berth in the Pony Baseball World Series.
Most of the players on this year’s Pony 13 all-stars were on last year’s Bronco A all-star team that also won a Regional title and advanced to the West Zones in Maui. That team fell just short of earning a spot in the World Series, salvaging a win against eventual World Series entry Hawaii in late round play.
But Pony 13s coach Andy Peabody, who went to Maui last year, said he believes this year’s team has an advantage over last year’s.
For one thing, this year’s Pony 13s West Zone tourney is much closer to home in Fullerton, at storied Amerige Field.
“I like our chances,” Peabody said. “Last year, we had a 10-hour flight and it took us two games just to get used to everything. This year, we’ll be in the same time zone, and we’ll already be there and ready to play.”
Peabody said the team plans to leave for Fullerton on Thursday, in plenty of time to prepare for its Saturday tourney opener at noon against, drum roll please, Hawaii.
In its Regional finale last Saturday, the MH Pony 13s dropped Bel Passi of Modesto 10-3 for its fourth straight victory in regional play.
On the mound, JP Howard, Nick Ramirez and Kenny Hall teamed up.
Offensively, Chris Bradley went 3-for-4, with a pair of run-scoring doubles, Ryan Williams was 2-for-4, and Matt Carroll was 2-for 4 with an RBI, while Howard added a two-run single and Robby Coy had another key RBI in a decisive third-inning rally.
Earlier in the tourney, MH had dropped Bel Passi into the loser’s bracket with a 10-2 victory.
Meanwhile, the Pony 14s A all-star squad advanced in the Sectional Tournament and will play host Los Gatos in winner’s bracket play Tuesday at 5:30pm at Fisher Middle School in Los Gatos. And, the Pony 13-14 B all-stars are also alive in Sectional tourney play, and were scheduled to play Santa Clara A Monday at Lou Vierra Field in Santa Clara.
Pinto A all-stars still alive; Mustang Gold finish run
Beating section rival San Jose PAL for the third straight time in tourney play on Sunday, the Morgan Hill Pinto A all-stars kept themselves alive in Regional Tournament play in Rodeo last weekend.
The Pinto A all-stars were scheduled to play Livermore on Monday in the loser’s bracket finale for the chance to meet undefeated Tara Hills on Tuesday at 5:30pm. An “if necessary” game would be played Wednesday.
The Pinto A all-stars were dropped into the regional tourney’s loser’s bracket by Livermore, which beat the local team 9-6 on Saturday. Morgan Hill then played a doubleheader during Sunday’s heatwave, first beating Blossom Valley No. 1, the Britton section tourney winner, by a 6-4 score, then downing San Jose Pal 5-4.
Against BV No. 1, MH took an early lead on key hits from Travis Moulden, Cole Campi and Ethan Cox, and third baseman Patrick Muller made a throw to catcher Ian McGowen for an out at the plate to prevent a scoring opportunity by BV. Against San Jose Pal, MH found itself down 4-0 in the first inning, but came back with five runs of its own in the frame. MH’s Jack Affourtit pitched three strong innings, followed by Ryan Quadros.
The Regional Tournament winner earns the right to advance to the Pinto World Series in Garden Grove.
In Mustang Sectional Tournament play, the Mustang Gold all-stars saw their season end after an 18-12 loss to San Jose Pacific No. 1 in the San Jose tourney.
The Mustang Gold all-stars were led by Aaron Armijo, who went 4-for-4 with a home run and two doubles, Lorenzo Aguayo, who had three hits, inlcuding two doubles, and Aiden Styczynski and Taylor Turnipseed, who both had two hits and a double.
