Pony World Series field almost complete
Nine of the 10 spots have been filled for the Pony League World Series that begins Friday evening at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park.
Four teams – Bay County, Mich., Hagerstown, Md., San Bernardino, Calif., and Johnstown – qualified by winning their respective zone tournaments last weekend. The South Zone tournament winner was to be determined Monday night in Burleson, Texas. The championship round matched two teams from Texas, Brownsville and Houston.
Bay County won its fourth consecutive North Zone championship. The team has four players returning from last year’s club that placed fifth in the world series. Bay County won all four of its games in the North Zone championship tournament by double digits, including a 12-2 thumping of Livonia, Mich., in the final round.
Hagerstown went undefeated in the East Zone championship tournament in High Point, N.C. Hagerstown defeated Brooklyn, N.Y., 6-5, in the final.
San Bernardino punched its ticket to Washington the hard way. After losing to Maui, Hawaii, 3-0, in its opening game in the West Zone tournament in Los Alamitos, Calif., San Bernardino reeled off five consecutive victories, including the final one in dramatic fashion, to win the zone title. In the championship game, San Bernardino trailed Santa Cruz, Calif., 8-5, entering the bottom of the seventh inning but rallied with four runs to win, 9-8.
San Bernardino was in the first Pony League World Series, played in 1952 in Washington.
The B. Hale Boilers of Johnstown won the Host Area tournament, defeating North Allegheny in the final round. It is the eighth Host Area title for Johnstown since 2005. The Boilers won two tournaments to become the Host Area champion and outscored their opponents 84-8.
Previously, Mayaguez, P.R. (Caribbean Zone), Taoyuan County, Chinese Taipei (Asia-Pacific Zone), Liga Mazatlan, Mexico (Mexico Zone), Vienna Austria (European) won zone titles to qualify for the world series. They will join the host team, the Washington All-Stars.
Play begins Friday with two games. Mayaguez will play the South Zone winner in the opening game at 5:30 p.m. Bay County faces Johnstown at 8 p.m.
Washington’s first game will be Saturday (2:30 p.m.) against Vienna. The winner advances to play San Bernardino Sunday at noon.