With postseason play approaching, several Morgan Hill Pony
Baseball all-star teams had the chance to play in regional
tournaments over the Memorial Day weekend. (Postseason tournament
play begins on Saturday, June 11, and the annual City Championships
will be held in late June. All-star play will follow.) Following
are the results:
With postseason play approaching, several Morgan Hill Pony Baseball all-star teams had the chance to play in regional tournaments over the Memorial Day weekend.
(Postseason tournament play begins on Saturday, June 11, and the annual City Championships will be held in late June. All-star play will follow.)
Following are the results:
Pony division
Three teams MHPB teams competed in the 20th annual Seaside Memorial Classic last weekend. Both the Pony 13 and Pony 14A teams went undefeated in their pools and made it to the Championship Rounds. The tournament consisted of 16 teams placed into four pools, each playing a round robin with only the winner of each pool moving to the Monday’s Championship rounds. Going in, the Pony 13s knew it would be tough as they were playing against 14-year-olds, but they were up to the task and finished second in spectacular fashion.
Pony 14A finished third, while Pony 14B went 1-2 in a strong pool. Pony 13 drew a pool with Carmel C, Lafayette, and the Concord Hawks. Pony 13 started out with a Friday night game against Carmel C. Mike Singleton got the start and MH won easily 6-3 over the mixed group of 13s and 14s. Saturday’s game put the home team at 2-0 in pool play with a hard fought 3-0 shutout against the Lafayette travel team. J.P. Howard threw five shutout innings and Nick Hagiperos sealed the deal with two innings in relief, striking out the side in the 7th. Robby Coy came off the bench to hit a clutch two-out RBI double for the second insurance run. With the Concord Hawks, a 14s travel team, also 2-0 in pool play, the winner of Sunday night’s game would gain the berth to the Championship Round on Monday. Matt Carrol started and pitched a beauty, going five innings with Chris Bradley closing the game for the win. MH played from behind all night, but pulled off the 5-4 upset in the bottom of the 7th when Carol lined to left with the bases loaded for the tying run and Singleton forced in the game winner on a walk. Ryan Williams had a key RBI early on to stay within striking distance. Brian Bradley had two hits and scored twice.
The Pony 14A team swept its pool and played the powerful Nor-Cal Yankees, a polished 14s travel team, in the semifinal while the Pony 13 team faced Mid County. If both teams had won, it would have been a showdown between the two MH teams for top honors, but the Pony 14A team stumbled, losing 13-3 to the Yankees. Pony 13 won their semifinal 9-7 over Mid County in a game that went back and forth the entire game. Pony 14A crushed Mid County 18-3 in the Consolation final, finishing a respectable 3rd.
The championship game featured the upstart MH Pony 13 team vs. the NorCal Yankees. J.P. Howard got the start and went 4 2/3rds of scoreless innings but got into a bases-loaded jam in the fifth. Enter Chris Bradley, who induced a fly out to end the threat. The Yankees scored the only run of the game in the sixth on a two-out heart-breaking mix-up. MH had a couple of chances in the sixth and seventh, but couldn’t put one across the plate. Mike Singleton had a great game at third snaring three line drives, one for a unassisted double play.
Bronco division
The Bronco B team finished 2-1 in pool play, beating Carmel A and Seaside B but didn’t make the championship due to the tie-breaker format of total runs allowed. The Bronco B team did score 14 more total runs than any other team in its pool. Matt Byrne was the go-to guy on the mound, starting in both wins. Trevor Hicky also pitched in the wins. First-year player Ben Hartl turned heads with a great tourney, pitching five innings over a two-game spread. Ryan Taylor played a fine game at shortstop going over the middle many times and making a web gem driving catch. Conor Boulger scored the winning run against Carmel A while batting a solid clean-up hitter. Jimmy Persons did the bulk of the catching throwing out a couple of runners. Cody Goslin, Dominc Changco and Dylan Perera made nice catches in the outfield. Colin Douglas played an errorless second base all weekend. Alex Hagiperos had three RBIs and Andy Pham scored a pair of runs. Clayton Howard started on the mound in Saturday night’s double header.
The Bronco C team won its opener against Solidad, but lost the next two against Carmel B and eventual winner Seaside A. Ryan Webb started against Seaside and pitched well but the defense allowed seven unearned runs in a 9-1 loss.
The Bronco Green Team played in a tournament in Seaside. The Greens beat Soledad 11-9, then lost to Carmel B 14-4 and to Seaside A 9-2.
Mustang division
The Mustang A team finished second overall in the Seaside Tournament. MH finished 3-0 in pool play, beating Carmel B 18-5 on Friday, and downing Burlingame B 19-0 and Blossom Valley B 12-8 on Saturday.
In the playoffs on Monday, MH beat Seaside A 19-9 in the semifinals, before dropping a close 10-9 decision to the Blossom Valley Pythons in the championship.
Individual standouts included: (Defensive) Tommy Naranjo, Joe Tuttle and Mitch Hickey; (Offensive) Andrew Bueno, John Forestieri and Josiah Wylie; (Baserunning) Josiah Wylie, Tommy Naranjo and Joe Tuttle; (Pitching) Mitch Hickey, Jayson Smith and Tommy Naranjo.
Pinto division
Grey at Black
Grey Pitchers: Troy Moorehead, Clay Miller, Justin Nelson, Ian McGowen, Justin Dziuba, JT Miller and Cole Campi. Black Pitchers: Darian Huerta, Jared Freitas, Jonathan Freitas, Travis Moulden, Dan Dunham, Nick Penzetta, Jesse Osuma and Josh Alaniz.
Black Team RBIs: Josh Alaniz 3, Jared Freita 1. Grey Team RBIs: Ian McGowen 1, Clay Miller 1, Justin Nelson 1, Adam Jennings 1, and Andrew Reisenauer 1
Grey at Gold
Grey Pitchers: Troy Moorehead, Clay Miller, Adam Jennings, Ian McGowen, Jared Gunsky, Justin Dziuba, and Cole Campi. Gold Pitchers: Evan Dean, Anthony Sasso, Ben Haggiperos, Jack Affortit, Riley Burg, and Justin Backer.
Grey Team RBIs: Ian McGowen 3, Justin Dziuba 1, Clay Miller 3, JT Miller 2, Justin Nelson 1, Jared Gunsky 5, Jasper Evans 1. Gold Team RBIs: Mikey Mckague 1, Patrick Muller 3, Gus Rubio 3, Jack Affortit 2, Tyler Molina 1, Albert Arias 1, Riley Burg 1, Justin Baker 1
Green at Grey
This game went into extra innings because Michael Porras on the Green team hit a grand slam home run in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs to tie the game. Unfortunately for them, they ran out of pitchers and the Grey team won on a walk.
