Aug 7, 2015 4 min read

Bay County, Mich., and Johnstown have developed quite the rivalry in the Pony League World Series.

Five times in seven years they have met in the opening round. The first four meetings were close, well-pitched and well-played games with Bay County pulling out victories three times.

The fifth meeting, which was in Friday night’s late game, had a little more offense than the previous contests but Bay County continued its dominance of Johnstown.

Nick Dardas drove in two runs, Brandon Brown hit a two-run homer and Adam Randall pitched a complete game as Bay County defeated an experienced Johnstown team, 8-3, at Lew Hays Pony Field.

The win advances Bay County in the winner’s bracket and into a game against either Chinese Taipei or Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Monday at 5:30 p.m. Johnstown will try to stay alive in the double-elimination tournament when it plays Houston Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

All nine players in Johnstown’s starting lineup played in the world series last year as 13-year-olds. Three of the first four hitters in the Bay County lineup also were on the North Zone championship team last year, when the North Zone champions edged Johnstown 4-2 in the tournament’s second game and went on to finish in fifth place.

“That was concerning to me,” Bay County manager Dan Revette said. “We only beat them 4-2 last year and all of those guys are a year older.

“But we hit the ball, and we put our No. 1 guy out there on the mound and he pitched a whale of a game.”

Randall, one of four returning Bay County players, pitched a five-hitter and struck out eight. He was effectively wild, hitting four batters.

Johnstown had four of its first six batters reach base but could not score. Randall hit three of those first six batters – Bryce McCleester and Troy Emert in the first inning and Grant Norris to start the second – and issued a one-out walk in the opening inning. The Host Area champions, however, were held scoreless in large part because Dardas, Bay County’s catcher, threw out a runner at third base in the first inning and picked off another Johnstown runner at second base an inning later.

It was much like last year’s game against Bay County when Johnstown squandered several scoring chances early in the game.

“Every year is different,” Johnstown manager Josh Day said. “We had scoring opportunities that we left out there.

“What I saw in the first inning was Bay County came out fired up and aggressive. We came out tight. We had some baserunning mistakes early that cost us.”

Bay County strung together three hits in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. Tyler David hit a one-out single off hard-throwing Johnstown pitcher Adam Cecere, stole second base and scored the game’s first run on Dardas’ single up the middle. Ben Van Sumeran then tripled off the fence in centerfield to drive in Dardas. A wild pitch allowed Van Sumeran to score.

Johnstown didn’t have a hit until Brodie Harbaugh, the lefty leadoff hitter, smacked a solo homer just inside the right-field line with one out in the third, cutting Bay County’s lead to 3-1.

Bay County pushed the lead to 5-1 in the fourth. Caleb Courtney hit a one-out single and, with Courtney running on the pitch, Brown lined a 3-2 fastball just over the left-field fence for a two-run homer.

“When the runner took off early, our first baseman and catcher yelled for the pitcher to step off, but he had already started his motion,” Day said. “(Brown) capitalized on it. That was a big hit from the No. 7 hitter.”

The North Zone champions tacked on two unearned runs in the fifth to make it 7-1. Johnstown committed four errors in the game.

“Defense, that was one of the things that carried us all year,” Day said. “It’s disappointing when you don’t make the routine plays.”

Tyler Mulhollen hit a two-run homer for Johnstown in the sixth, but Bay County made it 8-3 when it scored another unearned run in the bottom of the frame.

Johnstown loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh but did not score.

“Johnstown has always been a good team,” Revette said. “They are well-coached and a class act. I like the way they play.”

Chinese Taipei’s Tu Wei Hung won the Home Run Derby during the skills competition held Friday morning. Mayaguez, Puerto Rico’s Kendrick Crespo was the fastest baserunner. Chinese Taipei won the three-player team home run derby. … The Chinese Taipei-Mayaguez game today (5:30 p.m.) will be televised live on Pittsburgh CW.