NASA lands spot in Pony World Series
The final qualifier for the Pony League World Series was determined Monday night when Houston (NASA Orange) defeated Brownsville, Texas, 8-6 in eight innings in the South Zone championship game.
Houston scored the go-ahead run on a safety squeeze in the two-run eighth.
The Pony League World Series begins Friday with two games and ends Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. championship game at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park. The game will be televised live by the Pittsburgh CW.
Houston will play the Caribbean Zone champion Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, in the opening game at 5:30 p.m. Friday. The Host Area champion, Johnstown, faces North Zone champion, Bay County, Mich, in the 8 p.m. game.
All 19 games in the series will be streamed live at MLB.com and Saturday’s 5:30 p.m. game between the Asia-Pacific Zone champion, Taoyuan County, Chinese Taipei and either Houston or Puerto Rico, also will be televised on the Pittsburgh CW. Former Pittsburgh Pirates announcer Lanny Frattare will call the play-by-play and KDKA Morning News anchor Rick Dayton will be the color analyst.
Hilo, Hawaii won last year’s tournament with a 5-3 victory over Chinese Taipei. Teams from Chinese Taipei have won six world series titles, including four in a seven-year span from 1994-2000.
The Washington All-Stars get under way in a 2:30 p.m. game Saturday against Vienna, Austria. Washington topped European Zone champion Brno, Czech Republic, 17-4, in last year’s opening round. The European Zone owns a 2-1 edge in the all-time series against Washington. Austria is making its first PLWS appearance.
The Division Championship games are Tuesday, and will be played at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Depending on those results, the if necessary games will be played during the day Wednesday (10 a.m. /12:30 p.m.).