Staff writer
jmontecalvo@observer-reporter.com
In Puerto Rico, baseball is revered like no other sport. The island of just under four million people has produced countless Major League Baseball stars, from Roberto Clemente to Ivan Rodriguez. At the youth level, it annually turns out strong teams and its tradition of success is unmatched by many places in the world.
That's been no more evident than in this year's Pony League World Series.
Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, won three straight games to reach the championship, including two hard-fought 4-2 victories over Chinese Taipei.
In today's 1 p.m. title game at Lew Hays Pony Field, however, Trujillo Alto will meet a team from another traditionally strong area in Pony baseball: Long Beach, Calif.
Teams from Puerto Rico and California have won 25 of the 55 Pony championships. California, though, has been the most dominant, winning 19 titles. Long Beach won the championship in 1959 and 1965.
Last year, Caguas, Puerto Rico, defeated Simi Valley, Calif., in the championship game. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Trujillo Alto (3-0) and Long Beach (3-0) won their respective double-elimination brackets.
"We take a lot of pride (in baseball)," said Trujillo Alto manager Edwin Correa, who was a 12-game winner as a pitcher for the Texas Rangers in 1986. "We fight for many reasons. We prepare and play year-round just to be the best on the field."
That pride showed Monday when New York Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran and former major-league infielder Tony Bernazard, who is the Mets' vice president in charge of player development, were at Washington Park to watch Trujillo Alto's second-round game. Beltran and Bernazard are natives of Puerto Rico.
The Mets had the day off before starting a series against the Pirates at PNC Park. Beltran watched the last inning from the Trujillo Alto dugout and addressed the team after the game.
"Baseball is the main sport in Puerto Rico ... I've been blessed by playing the game of baseball," Beltran said Monday. "Tony (Bernazard) told me there was a team from Puerto Rico playing in the world series, so I wanted to come here. I'm just happy they're doing a real good job."
Puerto Rico is vying for its third championship this year. It already won the Palomino and Colt titles.
Trujillo Alto, however, will have to get past a Long Beach team that has scored 29 runs in three games.
"Our outlook is good. We're not changing any of our plans or strategies," Long Beach manager Rick Romo said after a 9-1 win over Kingwood, Texas, Thursday night. "We're just looking at it as another game. (Trujillo Alto) is a strong team, but we're confident right now. We played a lot of strong teams to get here."
Spencer Troutman likely will get the start on the mound for Long Beach. Chris Hubbard, the team's top pitcher, worked six innings against Kingwood on Thursday.
"We'll probably mix in a couple pitchers to give them a different look and not let them settle on one," Romo said. "We have a lot of fresh pitchers that can go."
Lon Beach has allowed more than three runs in only two of its last 10 games.
Trujillo Alto will counter with Kelvin Rivas, who hasn't pitched since tossing a complete-game four-hitter and striking out 14 against Chinese Taipei on Monday.
"He's well-rested," Correa said. "We can run, we have defense, and pitching and we put the ball in play so we can make it happen."
Long Beach, which has won 14 of its last 15 games, isn't worried.
"These kids come from Wilson High School, which was ranked No. 1 in the nation last year by Baseball America. We have tough schedules in high school, so these kids know competition," Romo said. "We totally respect (Trujillo Alto), they're a great team. But we're going in with confidence that if we just play our game and not worry about what they're going to do, we'll be fine."