San Bernardino holds off Hagerstown
The Chinese Taipei team bows to the crowd after beating Bay County, Mich., 10-0, Monday at Lew Hays Field.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Bay County's Noah Colberg strikes out during the bottom of the fifth inning against Chinese Taipei on Monday, August 10.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Hagerstown's manager Dave Barr talks to Chase Miller during a break in play. Following, Miller hit a single in the top of the fourth inning.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Chinese Taipei's Wei Hung Tu gets a fist bump from first base coach Chien-Min Lo during the fifth inning of the game after getting a first base hit against Bay County, Michigan on Monday, August 10.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Hagerstown's Garret Hose pitches in the game against San Bernardino,California on Monday, August 10.
It was far from the 19-run performance against Vienna, Austria, Sunday afternoon. San Bernardino could not capitalize with clutch hits and made mental mistakes on the base paths.
In a double-elimination tournament, avoiding the first loss is all that matters — no matter how many close calls – and Monday night was as close as it gets.
Close is nothing new to the Pony team from San Bernardino, Calif. Their West Zone tournament was filled with late-inning heroics and the experience showed.
Hagerstown, Md., loaded the bases with one out in the seventh inning, but San Bernardino, escaped with a 2-0 win at Lew Hays Pony Field in a winner’s bracket game of the Pony League World Series.
San Bernardino advanced to today’s division championship at 8 p.m., where it will play the winner of a 12:30 p.m. elimination game between Hagerstown and Mexico.
“We’ve played in so many close games,” San Bernardino manager Abel Madueno said. “There is so much competition in Southern California and we know how to battle when it’s time.”
His son included. Abel Madueno Jr. re-entered the game as the closer in the top of the seventh and got the first out with on a fly ball. Hagerstown then shot two singles to the outfield and Chase McCoy reached on an infield single to load the bases.
Madueno Jr. fought back by striking out Brock Penn on five pitches and got Alex Avey to pop out to end the game.
“It was a crazy moment. I gave up big hits, but I found a way to come back,” Madueno Jr. said. “I was just trying to throw my hardest. I dug deep. I wanted to get this win for my teammates.”
San Bernardino did not waste time taking the lead as center fielder Eddie Aldama led off the first inning with a single to left and second baseman Damien Sanchez drove him in with a double for the 1-0 lead.
The contingent of fans who made the 2,360-mile trip to Washington chanted from the bleachers and hard-hitting San Bernardino seemed destined for a big offensive night. Hagerstown pitchers Garret Hose and Spencer McNamee, who combined for six strikeouts, had other plans.
Hose allowed another single before recording eight consecutive outs. First baseman Tyler Bardowell ended the drought with a double off the fence in right-center field. Three batters later, Noah Parra snuck a ground ball into right field to score pinch-runner Eli Martinez for a 2-0 lead.
Though it only stranded four on base, San Bernardino made several baserunning mistakes.
Parra was thrown out trying to advance to second on the throw, and one inning later, catcher Joe Manialung tried taking third base on a groundball to Hose. He was caught in a rundown for the second out. Aldama was picked off to end the inning.
“We made mistakes, but that’s baseball,” manager Abel Madueno said. “You have to be aggressive against a team like that.”
Though San Bernardino struggled in other facets of its game, the defense contained Hagerstown’s offense, which stranded nine and scattered seven hits.
San Bernardino pitchers Devyn Lopez, who earned the win, and Bryce Hayes held opposing batters to 0-4 with runners in scoring position.
“California’s defense was outstanding and it was a great game,” Hagerstown manager Dave Barr. “We came from behind to win six of nine games, but I told the kids that eventually, giving up runs early will cost them and it did today.”
It was not a picturesque victory for San Bernardino, but the West Zone champions are impressing in the city’s first appearance at the world series since 1955.
“This is one of those great games. It’s what you play for,” Madueno said. “The last one was fine and dandy with the offense, but these are the kind of games that make you better.”
Chinese Taipei 10, Bay County 0:
Chinese Taipei manager Wei-Chi Huang is no stranger to the Pony League World Series. This trip is his third to Washington. He managed teams that advanced to the championship game in 2012 and 2014.
He knows the obstacles the tournament presents. The slightest mishap – mental or physical – can cost a team the championship.
He has been around his current team long enough to know when nerves are affecting their play. After failing to score in the first two innings Monday night, which included a runner thrown out trying to steal third base, Huang wanted to lighten the mood in the dugout.
That moment finally came when Wei-Hung Tu delivered a two-run homer in the third inning and Chinese Taipei went on to defeat Bay County, Mich., 10-0, in a five-inning game.
Chinese Taipei advances to the division championship, where it will face the winner of an elimination game between Bay County and Mayaguez, Puerto Rico today at 5:30 p.m.
“Again, at first, the game was very tight,” Huang said. “Then, (Tu) hit the home run and made everyone more confident and relaxed. Everyone loosened up with the lead.”
Starting pitcher Yi-Lung Ho tossed four shutout innings while striking out six and hitting a batter.
Ho hit a two-run double for the two-run lead in the third inning and three pitches later, Tu drove a curveball over the wall in center field for a two-run homer and Chinese Taipei added another run to make it 6-0
“We were out-classed. We have a much better team than that,” Bay County manager Dan Revette said. “You don’t win when you commit errors like that. You have to play your best to beat a team like that, but we’ll come back tomorrow ready.”
Wen-Hsun Yu reached on an RBI infield single in the fifth and third baseman Chun-En Lin, who hit a three-run homer in Chinese Taipei’s semifinal win last year, drove in two of his four RBI with a single to left field for a 9-0 lead and Huai-Chien Lan invoked the mercy rule with a sacrifice fly to left field.