Torres homers, strikes out six in 5-2 victory over Joliet (Ill.)
in the third round of pool play at the Bronco World Series
MONTEREY — Alejandro Torres helped Morgan Hill get back on track Saturday at the Bronco World Series.
Torres, homered, smacked a ground-rule double and pitched five steady innings as Morgan Hill overcame a shaky start to beat Joliet (Ill.) 5-2 at Jack’s Park in Monterey.
The game was a must-win for both teams, who were part of a three-way tie for second place in the Green Division at 1-1. The top two finishers will advance to next week’s championship tournament. Morgan Hill can likely clinch a spot Sunday when it plays Tai-Yuan Elementary School of Taipei, Taiwan, in the final round of pool play at 2:30 p.m.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing to do something like that, play against an international team,” said Torres, who struck out six and allowed two unearned runs. “We’re going to have to bring our ‘A’ game.”
The local All-Stars were still getting over Thursday’s 17-4 loss to Simi Valley in the first inning Saturday. They committed a couple errors and mustered only one run after loading the bases. Ben Hughes crossed home when Sam Aptekar grounded out.
“Everyone was still feeling down about that loss,” Torres said.
Morgan Hill coach Mike Zanotto gave them a good pep talk afterward.
“They responded well,” he said. “We played great defense the rest of the way.”
Playing catcher, Aptekar threw out two potential basestealers. His starting batterymate, meanwhile, was sharp.
“It was a big win, but I wasn’t nervous,” Torres said. “My curveball was working good; everyone was missing it.”
Hughes surrendered one hit in the final two innings to get the save.
Mike Porras drove in Domenic Zanotto for the go-ahead run in the third inning after Zanotto singled. Torres’ doubled in the fourth and belted a solo shot to right-center field an inning later. It hit the base of the 350-foot wall beyond the Bronco field.
“That was just a bomb,” his coach said. “We didn’t have that many hits today, but we made them count.”
Win or lose, Morgan Hill won’t know if it makes the four-team tournament until late Sunday night.
