Both the Morgan Hill Bronco A and the Pony A all-star teams
moved on in their respective tournaments after the first weekend of
play.
Both the Morgan Hill Bronco A and the Pony A all-star teams moved on in their respective tournaments after the first weekend of play.
At the Regional Tournament in Santa Clara, the MH Bronco A all-stars beat Elk Grove 5-3 on Saturday and edged South San Francisco 7-6 on Sunday to advance in the winner’s bracket.
The Bronco all-stars will play Los Gatos at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at El Camino Field (Cabrillo School) in Santa Clara for the right to advance to the tourney championship series on Saturday.
Meanwhile, at the Sectional Tournament in Los Gatos, the MH Pony A all-stars routed Belmont 11-0 for a “mercy-rule” victory in their opener on Saturday to advance.
The Pony all-stars play host Los Gatos at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Hoyle Field (Fisher Middle School) in Los Gatos for a berth in Saturday’s tourney championship series.
Meanwhile, the MH Pony B all-stars dropped their Sectional tourney opener 5-1 to Los Gatos (also at Hoyle Field) and were scheduled to play South San Francisco in a loser’s bracket game on Monday night.
Following are the results from last weekend’s games:
Bronco A all-stars
The opening game had Nick Rameriz starting and going five innings in a huge first-round victory. Morgan Hill fell behind early but battled back on a two-run homer by Matt Carroll in the second to tie the game.
In the fourth, Bryan Bradley walked and J.P. Howard singled. Both advanced on a wild pitch and Bradley scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball.
Chris Bradley came in to close the game and threw two scoreless innings.
Morgan Hill added two insurance runs in the fifth for the 5-3 win.
In Sunday night’s game, once again Morgan Hill would have to come from behind when S.F. scored in the top of the first.
But in the bottom of the inning, MH exploded for six runs. Chris Bradley, Ryan Williams, Nick Rameriz, Mike Singleton, Bryan Bradley, Nick Hagiperos, and Greg Hamik all got hits as the all-stars batted around the order.
S.F. answered back in the top of the second with a two-run home run and a single run on a questionable call on a foul ball.
MH’s Matt Carroll came in to pitch with two outs in the top of the second, and went the rest of the way to preserve the win.
Nick Rameriz’s solo shot gave MH a 7-4 lead.
In the final inning, S.F. rallied but fell one run short when Carroll got the strike out on a beautiful palm ball with the bases loaded.
Pony A all-stars
The local Pony A all-stars broke open a tight game to defeat Belmont despite four weeks of off-time between the end of the MHPB season and sectional play.
The MH all-star squad took a couple of innings to get going, but eventually won by the “mercy” rule.
MH starting pitcher James Johnson pitched all five innings, notching seven strikeouts while allowing just two hits and no walks.
Johnson also ended the game with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
After getting runners on in each of the first and second innings, but not plating a run, MH broke through when Ryan Evanger opened the third inning by blasting a triple to right center and scoring on Johnson’s sacrifice fly.
MH’s Kevin Grove opened the fourth with a 12-pitch at-bat, eventually singling to right, beginning the hit parade. After a wild pitch, Jonathan Hughes singled in Grove, and Evanger followed with a single. Johnson knocked in both runs to make the score 4-0 Morgan Hill.
Billy Hill and Stephen Smith also both reached base, and Adam Perez’ double to the fence made the score 7-0 at the end of the fourth.
MH played superb defense, committing no errors, and did not allow a base runner past first base.
After retiring the Belmont team in the top of the fifth inning, with one out in the bottom of the inning Joe Woodworth induced a walk, and Christian Lam lined a double off the top of the 300-foot centerfield fence.
Vince Hatakeyama took the next pitch, and blasted a triple to right center, making the score 9-0.
Finally, Johnson stepped up to the plate and launched a fastball over the right center fence, ending the game.
