Morgan Hill Pony Baseball league round-up from opening
weekend
Bronco Division:
Braves 2, Mets 4
In the first game of the season in the Bronco division, the Braves and Mets battled through 11 hard-fought innings before the Braves were able to push across the winning run. It was a fantastic pitching duel, highlighted by nice defense. Ben Hartl drove in the winning run for the Braves with a perfect bunt with one out and the bases loaded. Hartl was the starting pitcher for the Braves, throwing three innings with nine strikeouts and allowing just one hit. Lerma earned the win for the Braves, pitching the final two innings, striking out three batters. B. Newton started the game for the Mets and in three innings of work he struck out all nine batters. Nick Swanson got the loss for the Mets. He pitched three innings, struck out two and gave up one run.
Giants 10, Cubs 9
Both The Giants and Cubs fought hard, as the game was back and forth with the lead changing five times. For the Cubs, Sean Silveira pitched with great command allowing all four runs in a well pitched but poor defensive first inning. Despite losing the lead in the fifth inning, Aiden Styczynski used an overpowering fastball and showed signs of a dominating performance. Outstanding catching by Ryan Mitchell, throwing out two runners at third base and one at homeplate after a passed ball kept the game close. Jack Ross hit and pitched masterfully giving up only two runs pitching and hitting a double and triple, both of which were smashed to the fence in left center field. Finally, after a close play at first base, with one out in the bottom of the seventh, Joseph Rodriquez of The Giants, 3-for-4 on the day, had the game winning hit, looping a single between a drawn-in infield, which scored the runner at third and gave The Giants a 10 – 9 victory. Both teams played great and look forward to meeting again.
Mustang Division:
Athletics 6, Cubs 4
The Athletics scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to break the 4-4 deadlock. Blake Porzio pitched 3 innings and only faced 10 batters and Nick Giordano pitched 3 scoreless innings for the Athletics. Bradley Higgins scored two runs, with one coming on a triple by Jack Benazzo in the eighth inning. Jackson Davis placed a perfect bunt down to score a run, and Cole Griffin pitched a perfect eighth for the save. Brent Bottomley and Benazzo also pitched for the Athletics. Taylor Turnipseed pitched 3 perfect innings for the Cubs, striking out 7 Athletics. Turnipseed also scored a run, and Steven Navara pitched well for the Cubs.
Braves 8, Astros 4
The Braves defeated the Astros on the strength of pitching from Matthew Bellah, Clay Miller and Sam Aptekar. Alejandro Torres struck out the side in the fourth inning for the Astros in the loss. Ben Hagiperos hit a double to deep center field.
