Morgan Hill Pony Baseball weekend roundup
Mustang Division
A’s 8, Braves 7
The A’s came away with the 8-7 victory over the Braves on Saturday. The Braves came back in the final inning to score two runs and had a runner on second when A’s ace pitcher, Nick Giordano, came in the game to record the final two outs. The A’s opened the scoring with two runs in the first. Blake Porzio singled and Brent Bottomley walked in the inning and both scored on steals from third base to home. The Braves scored four runs in the second inning on four straight walks by A’s pitchers. The Braves scored another run in the top of the third before the A’s scored five runs in the bottom of the inning. Jack Benazzo hit a home run scoring Bottomley to end the inning. Jackson Davis scored the final run for the A’s in the fourth inning after getting on base with a single. Sean Hoyle knocked in Davis with a single. The Braves scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning lead by singles from Burg and Matthew Bellah. Both runners came to the plate on a hard hit double by Rubio. The Braves pitchers were Bellah, JT Miller, Jacob, Clay Miller, Andrew Wilcox and Burg. The A’s pitched Cole Griffin, Higgins, Benazzo, Bottomley and Giordano.
A’s 5, Red Sox 4
Facing a 4 – 1 deficit in the bottom of the sixth inning, the A’s scored four runs to win the game. Jack Benazzo led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a single and scored on a single by Blake Porzio. A walk by Brent Bottomley and single by Cole Griffin loaded the bases. Sean Hoyle’s infield single scored all three base runners with Griffin sliding into home with the winning run just under the tag of the Red Sox catcher. Mark Quimby pitched three innings for the Red Sox allowing zero runs and striking out seven batters. Justin Lyle and Mike Porras also pitched for the Red Sox. The A’s pitchers Porzio and Nick Giordano held the Red Sox hitters to one hit.
Cardinals 10, Marlins 7
The Cardinals had revenge on their minds when they faced the Marlins for the second time this season. The Marlins won their first meeting 3-0. The Cardinals’ offense struck for eight runs in the third and fourth innings proved more than enough for the win. The Cardinals’ offense was led by J. Alanis who finished with two doubles for the game. The Cardinal pitcher’s J. Alanis and J. Affortit kept the Marlin’s batters at bay until K. Paresa crushed a triple in the bottom of the third. K. Paresa would finish the game with two hits. K. Cornelius added a triple of his own in the bottom of the fourth. K. Quadros and J. Zellmer added a hit a piece towards the Marlin hit total.
Marlins 10, Giants 3
The Marlins batters produced 13 hits against the Giant’s pitching staff. Kai Paresa had three hits for the day, this included a homerun and a double. Not to be out done Jesse Osuna had two triples and a single of his own. Ryan Quadros had three hits including a double. Joshua Zellmer two hits for his day of work. The Marlins pitching of Kyle and Ryan Quadros, and Paresa held the Giants to three runs on four hits. One of those a deep shot over the centerfielder’s head by Billy Brannon. Brannon who was only denied his homerun because of a good relay throw from the outfield by Daniel Ancheta into home plate. Brannon was tagged out by a hair. Brannon not only caught for four innings on this warm day but he was also called upon to pitch the last two innings. Brannon also contributed at the plate with two hits.
White Sox 13, Astros 10
White Sox pitcher Luke Northcott hit a double with a RBI in the first inning. The Astros gave up five runs to the White Sox early in the second inning. In the fourth inning, Brandon Foster of the White Sox hit a double and drove in a run. Astros’ relief pitcher Justin Baker went 2-for-3 with a double and a single, while Astro starter Taylor Pullen went 3-for-3 with a triple, a double and a single as well as driving in five runs. White Sox Northcott struck out three of four batters in the sixth inning to secure the victory. Pullen received the Astros’ game ball.
Cubs 11 , Astros 10
Yankees 12, Cubs 3
Cubs 10 , Indians 9
It was a busy week for the Mustang Division Cubs, filled with close calls and close outs. The week started off with an 11-10 win Tuesday over the Astros. It was a close game all the way through to the last inning with the score Astros 10, Cubs 7. With 2 outs and their last at bat the Cubs brought it home with four singles and four RBIs in the bottom of the sixth winning by a close 11 – 10 margin.
Coming out of a loss to the Yankees on Saturday, 12-3, Sunday’s game got off to a great start. The Cubs jumped out to a 5 – 2 lead after the first inning against the Indians. The Indians came back to score five runs in the top of the third bringing it to, 7-5 Indians. With the Indians leading and the Cubs down by two runs, the bottom of the fourth started off with an explosive lineup. Justin Dziuba started things off with a triple. With the game tied at 9-all and Taylor Turnipseed pitching, he retired the side in the sixth giving the Cubbies the opportunity to come back. Turnipseed up first with a single, stole first, stole second then third and finally with a steal to home plate for the winning run.
Bronco Division
Angels 10, Astros 3
The Angels beat the visiting Astros on Friday evening in a game that started close but ended with an Angels’ 10-3 victory. The Astros scored first with a run in the first inning when Tommy Naranjo reached base on an Angels fielding error, stole second and took third on a passed ball. Naranjo took home when the Angels’ catcher threw to first base on a dropped third strike. The Astros’ Brian Gomes threatened another run, getting on base with a single, stealing second an taking third on a hit by Jerry Jacob. Gomes attempted to take home on a passed ball, but a quick throw from Angels’ catcher Jimmy Hagan to pitcher Clayton Howard got Gomes at the plate. Angels’ second baseman Logan Hensley retired the side by catching a towering fly ball for the third out. The Angels took the lead in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs on a crushing triple by Conor Havstad into center field, who then scored on a single by John Forestieri. The second run was scored by Howard, who took first on a walk, took second on a hit by Mitchell Pasek, stole third, and then came home on a hit by Hagan.
The Angels then broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth on singles by Hensley and Pyle, a walk to Howard, a 2-RBI single from Pederson, and a 2-RBI double from Mitchell Pasek. Pasek scored the final run of the inning by taking home on a overthrow to third base on a pickoff attempt.
Rangers 10, Angels 3
The Rangers defeated the Angels 10-3 on Saturday with a combination of good defense and patient offense. The Angels put runners on base in the top of the first inning, but Rangers’ pitcher Robert Driscal showed some good pickoff moves. The Rangers scored once in the bottom of the inning on a single by Saporito, who took third on a throwing error and then scored on a grounder by Andy Muller to Angels’ first baseman Nelson Pyle. In the second inning, the Rangers’ defense again put the Angels out in order with putouts on a grounder to shortstop Muller and second baseman Matt Jarvis and a strikeout from pitcher Driscal. The Rangers increased their lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the second, scoring three runs on singles from Westyn Herscovitch and Jonathan Molina, a RBI single by Matt Bergantz, a walk to Mike Bergantz, and a 2-RBI single by Saporito.
The Rangers shut out the Angels again in the sixth inning. After giving up a leadoff single to Havstad, who then stole second and took third on a passed ball, Rangers’ pitcher Muller threw three strikeouts to end the inning. The Rangers padded their lead in the bottom of the sixth. After giving up a walk to Jonathan Molina, Angels’ pitcher Pasek got two quick strikeouts, but a single by Saporito scored Molina. Subsequent fielding errors and one walk loaded the bases, and then another walk forced in a run to extend the Rangers’ lead to 10-3.
Giants 7, Rangers 0
The Giants beat the Rangers 7-0 on Wednesday night in a well played game with three hits for the Rangers and eight for the Giants. The score was 1-0 up until the third inning. In the third inning the Giants exploded and continued to hit strong for the next three and a half innings of play. The Giants were led by Chris Ortiz who went 3-for-3 with three doubles and Mike O’Connell smashed a homerun and one single. J.J. Lam, Kolby Rousseu, and Mitchel Rodriquez added base hits as well. For the Rangers, Dillon Ferchette, Tom Standbridge, and Corey Martin all added one base hit each. Pitchers for the game were Brian Bradley who went the first five innings and had seven strikeouts. For the Rangers, Dillon Ferchette went five innings with five strikeouts.
Pinto Division
Braves vs Giants
Jack Baker, Ryan Henner, Zachary Herscovitch and Derrick Henninger pitched for the Giants. At the bottom of the first inning the Giants struck out the first three Braves batters. In the second inning Hestcovitch caught a pop fly off third base for an out. Ken Williams also caught a pop fly for an out for the Giants. Williams, Dante Zanotto, Henner, Baker, Hersocvoitch and Caleb Duarte all had good hits for the Giants.
