Blossom Valley ends local All-Stars run in host sectional
MORGAN HILL — An old rival penned a bitter new chapter for Morgan Hill Pony Baseball on Wednesday, as Blossom Valley came from behind to beat the local A All-Stars 8-6 in an elimination game to decide the last Regionals berth in the Mustang 9 Morgan Hill Sectional.
The visiting Blossom Hill All-Stars scored five runs in the sixth inning at Britton Middle School to overcome a 6-3 deficit — and secure an invite to the championship round against undefeated Ceres. Both finalists earned automatic invites to the regional tournament for Santa Clara and Alameda counties.
Morgan Hill was in position to advance after trouncing Blossom Valley 16-3 Sunday but could not finish the job Tuesday against Ceres, falling 14-4.
“We would have loved to see them again,” Morgan Hill manager Randy Romriell said. “This was definitely a tough one for us. Blossom Valley made some big plays. They had a great pitcher who kept his pitches down and went the whole way, and they played great defense behind them.
“We feel like we should have had this one.”
Backed by strong pitching from Daniel Rodriguez and Charles Romriell, who allowed three runs combined in five innings, the A All-Stars built a 2-1 advantage in the first inning and went ahead 3-2 in the third.They extended their lead to three in the fifth but ran into trouble an inning later, as Blossom Valley capitalized off walks and errors.
In the seventh, Garrett Spriggs was able to reach base, steal second and advance to third with two outs, but Morgan Hill could not muster a big hit.
“They did a great job pitching against us,” Randy Romriell said. “Their guy hit his spots very well.”
The All-Stars were vying to become the third Morgan Hill team to play for a section title this summer, joining the city’s top clubs in Pony 13 and Pinto. They thrived behind the combined pitching of Ben Buckman and Donald Ukanwa, who was batting a team-best .706 after Sunday. Teammate Anthony DiVitorrio ranked second in average at .583.
Morgan Hill began its host sectional with a 16-11 victory over San Jose PAL on Saturday.
“I think we had a successful tournament, considering most of the other teams play together year-round,” Randy Romriell said. “We started playing together a few weeks ago. They did really well.”
