Staff writer
kjacobsen@observer-reporter.com
In a Pony World Series that had a an average margin of victory of over nine runs through the first 10 games, the best matchup has been Long Beach, Calif. against Tamiami, Fla.
The teams played Sunday, with Long Beach earning a 5-1 victory, though the game was closer than the score would indicate. Long Beach scored once in the sixth and twice in the seventh to put the game away.
The rematch Thursday was even better.
Trying to reach the final for the second straight year, Long Beach fell behind by two runs but rallied in the sixth, saw Tamiami come back to tie then went back ahead to earn a 9-7 victory in a wild game Thursday at Lew Hays Pony Field.
Long Beach's players gets to rest today, or they can watch Gurabo, Puerto Rico play Taichung City, Taiwan to see who they'll play tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the championship game.
"Tamiami gave us all we could handle," said Long Beach manager Ken Jakemer. "We got clutch hitting in the sixth and seventh innings."
Long Beach forged a 3-1 lead after three and a half innings. Brett Harper walked leading off the game and scored three batters later on a wild pitch. After Tamiami countered with an RBI-groundout in the second, Chase DeJong knocked in a run in the third and Daniel DeWolf doubled in Avery Flores in the fourth.
Tamiami leaped ahead with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Carlos Sosa walked and Jason Bonilla reached on an error, then Henry Knez doubled in Sosa. With two outs, Gianfranco Bermal laced a single to right field that scored two runners for a 4-3 lead. The score became 5-3 in the fifth when Robert Fuentes was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
With Tamiami needing to win to survive, manager Rafael Vazquez wasted no time in replacing starter Bermal, who threw just 28 of 56 pitches for strikes. Bermal faced two batters in the third inning, retiring neither, before being removed. He walked three and hit two others.
Danny Salomon relieved and threw three innings, giving up one run.
His replacement didn't fare as well. Conley Diaz entered in the sixth and immediately gave up a solo home run to Oliver Van Buskirk to cut the deficit to 5-4. Avery Flores reached on an error, then DeWolf hit his second RBI-double to tie the score.
"Oliver was the catalyst," Jakemer said. "This is the second time he's started a comeback for us."
DeWolf scored on Thomas Walker's double for a 6-5 lead. Tamiami avoided more damage when second baseman Rafi Vazquez threw out Walker at home.
Tamiami tied the score in the sixth. After Victor Fuentes was thrown out taking a wide turn at third, Tamiami loaded the bases on a single and an error. That brought up Knez, who was 2-for-2 with two doubles and an intentional walk. New pitcher DeWolf hit Knez with a 2-0 pitch to force in the tying run.
"This is the most mistakes we've made in all-star play," said Jakemer. "But without (Tamiami's) mistakes, we probably don't win this game. The pressure of this game was immense."
Long Beach went ahead in the seventh. With two outs, Flores singled and Harper reached on an error. DeWolf reached on an infield single that scored Flores. Walker later singled to right to drive in two runs for a 9-6 lead.
"We got clutch hitting from Thomas when we needed him to," Jakemer said.
Tamiami tried one last rally. Salomon tripled leading off the seventh and scored on a groundout but did not get another baserunner.