The Morgan Hill PONY-13 All-Stars muscled through the Sectional
Tournament held this past week at Britton School.
The Morgan Hill PONY-13 All-Stars muscled through the Sectional Tournament held this past week at Britton School.
The team finished with a 4-0 record, outscoring the competition 37-5, including two shutouts.
Morgan Hill now moves on to the North Regional held at John D. Morgan Park in Campbell beginning July 10 at 5:30 p.m.
Morgan Hill 11, Los Gatos 0
Los Gatos got off to a quick start as the leadoff hitter blasted a double, and the next batter singled.
With runners on first and third, starting pitcher Adam Perez struck out a batter, and with the count 2-2 and the base runner stealing, he struck out the next hitter. Catcher James Johnson then threw out the base runner for the third out.
Morgan Hill now had the momentum and cashed in with a single run in the bottom of the first. Billy Hill reached on an error and stole second.
He scored on a groundout by Johnson. Perez pitched three strong innings, allowing just two hits and striking out three.
Matthew Cummins came in to pitch the fourth and fifth innings and struck out four batters while surrendering two walks.
Morgan Hill won by the mercy rule after scoring four runs in the third inning and six in the fourth.
In the third inning, Ryan Evanger, Stephen Smith and Johnson all drew walks. Singles by Hill and Kevin Grove plated the runs.
In the fourth inning, Danny Nelson, Perez, Cummins, Grove, Johnson and Jonathan Hughes all reached base safely. Evanger drove in two of the runs.
Morgan Hill added an insurance run on Robert Barsanti’s RBI single that scored Hughes.
The team played an excellent error-free defensive game and allowed just two hits.
MH 9, Los Altos 0
Morgan Hill recorded its second consecutive shutout and advanced to the championship game by defeating the team from Mt. View-Los Altos.
Starting pitcher James Johnson allowed a leadoff double but then retired 15 of his next 16 hitters.
Morgan Hill scored all of its runs in the first three innings. In the bottom of the first, Nelson reached on an error and scored on a Hill double. Johnson singled in Hill, and Cummins tripled in Johnson.
After Grove was hit by a pitch, Ryan Evanger hit a sacrifice fly to score Cummins. Barsanti’s single finished the scoring as Grove scored the fifth run.
In the second inning, Nelson reached base on another error and scored on Hill’s second hit of the game.
Johnson drove in Hill with a sacrifice fly. In the third inning, Barsanti and Smith scored after a walk and single, respectively. Both Hill and Johnson went 2-for-3 and combined for five RBIs.
Vince Hatakeyama came in to pitch the final two innings and did not give up a run. Cummins and Johnson had nine infield assists for the game. Morgan Hill committed just one error.
MH 11, Los Altos 3
Morgan Hill won the title by rallying to defeat Los Altos, who reached the championship game by defeating Santa Clara earlier in the day.
Los Altos loaded the bases in the first inning off starting pitcher Grove on an error, a walk and a bloop single.
After a strikeout, Grove induced a double play ground ball. Grove deflected the ball to shortstop Hill at second base who threw on to Johnson for the final out.
Morgan Hill’s bats came to life in the bottom of the first inning, as the first four hitters reached safely. Danny Nelson singled, and Hill and Johnson both reached on errors.
Adam Perez, who went 4-for-4 with just a home run short of the cycle, singled, and Grove’s double drove in three runs. Vince Hatakeyama knocked in the final the scoring with an RBI single.
Los Altos responded with single runs in the next three innings, cutting the lead to 6-3.
In the second inning, a run eventually scored on a Morgan Hill error after a one-out double.
In the third, the Los Altos leadoff hitter reached on a throwing error and eventually scored, but Grove got out of the jam with two strikeouts in the inning.
Grove finished his three innings without allowing an earned run, He had four strikeouts and three walks. Morgan Hill added to its lead with a run in the bottom of the third inning, as Hughes reached on an error, stole second and scored on a Evanger single.
Hughes came in to relieve Grove, and threw three strong innings, allowing just one unearned run on three hits. He had two strikeouts.
Morgan Hill put the game away, scoring five runs over the final three innings.
Hill singled. And with one out, both Perez and Cummins had RBI doubles. Grove followed with an RBI single, scoring Cummins.
In the fifth inning, Hill reached on an error, stole second and third, and scored on a passed ball.
In the sixth, pinch hitter Christian Lam blasted a double to the center field fence and scored on a Smith sacrifice fly.
Smith made the defensive play of the game, robbing Los Altos of a hit in the sixth with a diving catch in right field.
Cummins came in to close out the Sectional Championship, striking out the final batter looking.
