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Miscues costly as Washington loses to Vienna

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Washington’s A.D. Nelson slides safely into home while Austria catcher Christoph Hoscher attempts to tag Nelson out during the top of the seventh inning Saturday at the Pony League World Series.. Austria won 12-9. Washington plays Mazatlan, Mexico, in an elimination game today at 5:30 p.m.

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Washington outfielder Maks Gonzalez tried to make a diving catch in the first inning Saturday at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park.

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Austria celebrates after beating Washington, 12-9, in the Pony League World Series Saturday.

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Washington’s A.D. Nelson singles in the top of the third inning, a five-run inning.

Setting the starting lineup is not a problem. Deciding what defense to use is routine. Selecting the starting pitcher isn’t a severely taxing process.

What a manager can’t control are the nerves that affect a team, and that was Bill Nelson’s problem Saturday afternoon at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park.

Nelson, the manager of the Washington All-Stars team participating in the Pony League World Series, could only watch as his team showed all the symptoms of those nerves in a 12-9 loss to Vienna, Austria.

Washington gave up runs in the first four innings, including a devastating six in the second, to suffer its first loss in this double-elimination tournament. Washington will play in an elimination game today against Mazatlan, Mexico, at 5 p.m.

Vienna, making its first appearance in the world series, plays San Bernardino, Calif., the West Zone champion, at noon today.

“We had a lot of errors, a lot of mental mistakes. It was something we couldn’t come back from,” said Nelson. “We hit the ball well. Unfortunately, we hit the ball right at them. I think yeah, it was nerves. They have been playing a lot better than that. We’re usually pretty good at fielding but we booted the ball around, threw the ball around. It’s just not like them. They all seemed pretty nervous when we were up in the cages (for batting practice before the game).”

Vienna jumped on Washington starter A.D. Nelson for two runs in the first inning and knocked him from the game with a six-run second. Nelson had problems with control, throwing five wild pitches – one of which allowed a run to score – and hitting a batter. He also gave up an RBI single to Jonathan Fleishmann. An error on third baseman Clarence Pomykala allowed two more runs to score.

A.D. Nelson lasted 1 2/3 innings, allowing six hits, eight runs (five earned); he walked three and struck out two. Vienna left the inning with six runs on only four hits. That followed a rocky first inning in which Washington allowed two runs on two hits and a wild pitch.

But Washington wasn’t the only team battling nerves. Vienna allowed five runs in the third and two more in the fourth inning to see it’s lead shrink to 10-7.

“We started out really (focused),” said Vienna manager David Korber. “At the end of the second and into third, the nervousness kicked in for us a little bit. They realized that they were playing in the world series. We were leading by eight, and we gambled a little bit to try to save some pitching and it didn’t work out.”

Washington batted around in the third inning, scoring five runs on just two hits. Colten Fonner drove in two runs with a double, Zemar Loper drove in one with a single and another scored on a wild pitch.

Washington added two more in the fourth when Maks Gonzalez drove in a run with a groundout and Danny Boardley had an RBI infield single.

“They showed a lot of heart in coming back and making it a game,” said Bill Nelson. “We’re going to go home, sleep it off and start over tomorrow. That’s all we can do. The ball just wasn’t falling for us today.”

Vienna answered Washington’s run with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to push the lead to 12-7. That seemed to take the steam out of Washington, though the team added single runs in the fifth and seventh innings.

Christoph Vanas was uncommonly wild, allowing five earned runs in 2 2/3 innings for Vienna. He walked four and did not have a strikeout. Tyler Pfortner pitched 4 1/3, allowed four runs but picked up the win.

“Vanas is our ace and usually, he’s not that shaky,” said Korber, “but things happen. To qualify, we have had some pretty good hitting games. We don’t have the long ball but they make good contact. We had some swing and misses in there and that is usually not our game.”

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