Pony 13 Regionals next for Morgan Hill A All-Slars
SANTA CLARA — As it turned out, little has changed this summer for Morgan Hill Pony Baseball’s flagship group of All-Stars.
Another year older and sporting the new colors of MHPB, they stumbled at times during this month’s Pony 13 Santa Clara County Section Tournament but ended the weeklong spectacle in the same manner as their last two Sectionals in 2008 and 2009.
There was uncannily clutch pitching, remarkable fielding, a scorebook full of blackened boxes and Domenic Zanotto doing floor exercises when it was all said and done. The Thrill raised a championship banner once again.
The same team that played for the Bronco Division’s top prize on the global stage a year ago took another step toward a return trip to the World Series by sweeping winners’-bracket champion Santa Clara in two games Saturday at Lou Vierra Field. The Morgan Hill A All-Stars, fresh off edging their B counterparts 2-1 in a thrilling elimination game Friday, overcame a five-run deficit to prevail 7-6 in the first game then rallied for a 14-5 victory in Game 2 to capture a third straight section title.
“I think this time around it was a lot tougher because our guys have been there before, done that,” Morgan Hill manager Daryll Hughes said. “It’s tough to three-peat in anything and keep yourself up emotionally. They struggled at first but woke up and did it again.”
Trailing 5-0 and facing the same pitcher that shut them down Thursday, the A All-Stars began their rally with Mark Quinby’s RBI in the fourth inning. Quinby came through again in the fifth, doubling home Zanotto, and Porras followed with a run-scoring double to make it 5-3.
In the sixth inning, Jesse Osuna led off with a single then advanced to third on a base hit by Patrick Muller. Zanotto, the smallest player in the tournament, came through with the first of many key hits in the championship round, a two-RBI double that tied the game 5-all. He later scored the go-ahead run on a triple by Quinby, whose 10-pitch at-bat capped, arguably, the most pivotal sequence in the tournament.
Hughes provided the winning run on Alejandro Torres’ two-out knock in the sixth inning. Santa Clara cut the deficit to 7-6 in the seventh but could not finish the job against Torres, who pitched the final four innings after reliever Mike Porras got out of a bases-loaded jam to end the third.
Quinby got the start — and was welcomed with a lead-off home run in the first at-bat of the game. Quinby’s rough 2 2-3 innings of work left him unavailable for Game 2, and, with Porras and Torres used up and Hughes still recovering from a long outing Friday, the A All-Stars started Sam Aptekar, their catcher from Game 1. Aptekar rose to the occasion. He helped keep Santa Clara’s lead (2-1) minimal with the help of great support headed by Hughes at shortstop.
The Thrill returned to its old ways with a 12-run third inning. It began with a lead-off single by Quinby and continued with RBIs provided by Porras, Aptekar, Osuna, Zanotto and a two-run single by Jack Affourtit in the No. 9 spot.
The outburst continued with more RBIs by Aptekar, Osuna and Zanotto, who drove in six runs, scored three times and reached base in all six plate appearances on the day. Torres later scored again on Osuna’s fourth hit of the game.
Torres had three hits in the championship series, and Porras had four hits and five runs.
“It really didn’t come down to one kid; it came down to every kid making big plays,” Daryll Hughes said. “It was a true team effort.”
Morgan Hill A and Santa Clara both advanced to this week’s Santa Clara and Alameda County Regional in Campbell, though the local team had to do so in disheartening fashion. A surprising 7-4 loss to Santa Clara on Thursday dropped the A All-Stars into the losers’ bracket where they had to face tournament darling Morgan Hill B in elimination play Friday with a Regionals berth at stake.
“The guys are pretty disappointed it came to this,” Morgan Hill A coach Mike Zanotto said Friday before the game. “It’s rough having an all-Morgan Hill semifinal, but we’re going to have to pretend it’s a regular game and a regular opponent.”
The de facto Pony 13 city championship boiled down to a spectacular pitcher’s dual between Hughes and Justin Dziuba of the B All-Stars. Both pitchers went the full seven innings.
“They pitched their hearts out, Justin with his command and Ben with his speed and curves,” said Morgan Hill B manager John Bennett, whose team knocked off three A teams on the way to placing third in the tournament.
Hughes won the close battle on all fronts, striking out 15 and driving in Quinby for the deciding run on a bloop single in the third inning. Quinby led off the game with a home run.
After tallying an unearned run to make it 2-1, Bennett’s team had several opportunities to tie the game or pull off a monumental upset. The last of which came in the final inning when, with runners at first and second and one out, they failed to lay down a sacrifice bunt. The game ended with a groundout to third.
“I was proud of how we played. We were a scrappy group of guys,” Bennett said. “They played hard and played to win.”
The Thrill are now prepping for a first-round regional game against Santa Cruz’s A squad. They will meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at John D. Morgan Park in Campbell.
The winner of the eight-team double-elimination tournament will advance to the West Zone finals, the last hurdle before the Pony 13 World Series.
“I think it’s going to take the same mentality we had Saturday to win this thing,” Mike Zanotto said. “We’ve shown what we can do it. Now, it just comes down to which team shows up.”
