By Kevin Jacobsen,

Staff writer

kjacobsen@observer-reporter.com

Chase DeJong missed the Pony League West Zone tournament because of obligations for his travel team.

Instead of helping Long Beach, Calif. qualify for the Pony World Series, DeJong was playing in a tournament in Florida. That kind of thing can create chemistry issues, but Long Beach manager Ken Jakemer says it's not a problem for his team.

Good thing too.

In his first game back with Long Beach, DeJong threw a complete game as the West Zone champions defeated Tamiami, Fla., 5-1 Sunday at Lew Hays Pony Field.

Long Beach plays the winner of Washington-Hagerstown, Md., Tuesday at 8 p.m. Tamiami faces the loser at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in an elimination game.

"We've been waiting for (DeJong) to return," Jakemer said. "He pitched a great game."

DeJong struck out 10 batters, including the side in the seventh, and threw 67 of 97 pitches for strikes.

The game's other storyline was Tamiami's use of an ineligible player in the sixth inning.

The sequence began in the top of the fifth. Long Beach, already up 1-0, loaded the bases with no outs. Tamiami manager Rafael Vazquez brought in Gianfranco Bermal off the bench to pitch, and Bermal nearly escaped the jam.

He struck out two batters and got another to foul out, but a wild pitch gave Long Beach a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the inning, Vazquez pinch hit for Bermal. Since Bermal was not in the starting lineup, he could not re-enter the game, but Vazquez sent Bermal out to pitch the sixth.

Bermal got a groundout on one pitch, then Jakemer pointed out the rule breach to the umpires. Tamiami was not required to forfeit, and the play stood, but Bermal and Vazquez were ejected and will miss tomorrow's game.

"I wasn't familiar (with the rule)," said Vazquez. "I told the team to do the best they can."

After stamping out Long Beach's rally in the top of the fifth, Vazquez's son Rafi Vazquez led off the bottom half with a double and went to third on an error. Danny Delgado walked and went to second when catcher Matt Maccarrone, who homered in the third, hung onto the ball at the plate.

A lineout ended the threat.

"We had a chance," said Rafael Vazquez, "We didn't get a clutch hit."

Long Beach scored three times in the last two innings. In the sixth, Soloman Williams doubled and eventually stole home as part of a double steal. In the seventh, Long Beach opened with three straight bunts - two for hits - then Williams hit a two-out, two-run single.

"We were getting a little frustrated with hitting their pitchers, so we bunted to try and get some guys on base," Jakemer said. "We said let's see what we can get."

Danny Salomon, who replaced the ineligible Bermal on the mound, homered in the seventh to break up the shutout.

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