Porras does it all in 5-2 win over Bel Passi to clinch regional
pennant
SAN JOSE — Mike Porras admitted he was “a little nervous” taking the hill at PAL Stadium.
He had been asked to start Game 1 of the Bronco 12 California Regional championship round, a game he and his Morgan Hill teammates had come agonizingly close to playing in year after year; a game that, with a win, would propel them to Pony Baseball’s biggest stage.
At the center of it was Porras, a strong lefty who has struggled with elbow problems this summer and was coming off a rough outing Sunday.
“Oh yeah,” Porras said when asked if he felt butterflies before Thursday’s game. “I was definitely nervous, but I was excited, too. I knew the guys were counting on me. I didn’t want to let them down.”
There will be no disappointments to look back on this year. Thanks to a gritty effort by Porras, who struck out nine and yielded two hits and a pair of walks in five innings, the Morgan Hill All-Stars are heading to the World Series.
They emerged the more fundamentally sound club during a 5-2 victory over Modesto’s Bel Passi and will be back on the field next week when the 10-team international tournament begins in Monterey. Morgan Hill will open pool play today against Salinas’ Toro Park at 7:30 p.m. in Jacks Ballpark.
“The feeling is a mixture of relief and fulfillment; we finally got the monkey off our backs,” said Morgan Hill manager Dave Affourtit, whose team went 4-0 in the eight-team regional. “This is such a special moment for these kids. They know it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
The Morgan Hill All-Stars were held to three hits but made the most of 10 free passes; they drew seven walks and three hit batsmen. Ben Hughes scored twice and Mark Quinby and Domenic Zanotto once off wild pitches. Zanotto also singled home Bradley Higgins in the fourth inning when Morgan Hill tallied three runs. Following a Porras single, Quinby drove in Zanotto with a basehit up the middle for the game’s final score. Quinby crossed home in the first inning, and Hughes made it 2-0 after reaching base on a dropped strikeout in the third.
Bel Passi starter Shawn Munoz struck out six and limited Morgan Hill to one hit in three innings but reaped little reward.
“We had to be smart on the bases and patient at the plate,” Hughes said. “We had to make them pitch to us and get hits when we could.”
The World Series can be considered a Hughes family tradition. Ben and his father Darryl, who also coaches the Morgan Hill All-Stars, watched Ben’s older brother, Jon, play in the Colt World Series in 2006.
“That was very special,” Darryl said. “I’m glad Ben gets to have the same experience. He’s gotta enjoy this.”
Ben hopes to do just as well as Jon, who helped his team place in the top four.
“It’s something to live up to,” Ben said. “I want us to go far. I think we can.”
Bel Passi plated its runs in the top of the fourth on Frankie Calderon’s two-out single to deep right. Morgan Hill’s Ethan Cox shut down the visiting All-Stars in the final two innings, punctuating the save with three strikeouts.
“He was excited when we told him he’s going in,” Morgan Hill coach Mike Zanotto said. “He wanted the ball at the end.”
Cox got help in the sixth inning from Porras, who snow-coned a Calderon liner to left with two outs and two men on. Luckily for Morgan Hill, Porras was shifted toward the third baseline before the play.
“How about Mike Porras?” Mike Zanotto said. “It was all big Mike tonight.”
Hoping to mount a late rally and force a decisive second finals game, Bel Passi had runners in scoring position in the seventh. But Cox induced a groundout to end the final threat — and spark a bench-clearing pileup at first base.
“It feels awesome,” said Porras, who singled, walked and was hit by a pitch. “We’ve worked so hard this summer and it’s paid off. We can’t wait for next week.”
